26 U.S.C. § 6654
Failure by individual to pay estimated income tax
United States · Title 26 — INTERNAL REVENUE CODE · Status: effective
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- 26 U.S.C. § 6654, Failure by individual to pay estimated income tax, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/464226
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Full text
Except as otherwise provided in this section, in the case of any underpayment of estimated tax by an individual, there shall be added to the tax under chapter 1, the tax under chapter 2, and the tax under chapter 2A for the taxable year an amount determined by applying—
For purposes of subsection (a)—
The amount of the underpayment shall be the excess of—
The period of the underpayment shall run from the due date for the installment to whichever of the following dates is the earlier—
For purposes of paragraph (2)(B), a payment of estimated tax shall be credited against unpaid required installments in the order in which such installments are required to be paid.
For purposes of this section—
There shall be 4 required installments for each taxable year.
In the case of the following
required installments:
The due date is:
1st
April 15
2nd
June 15
3rd
September 15
4th
January 15 of the following taxable year.
For purposes of this section—
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amount of any required installment shall be 25 percent of the required annual payment.
For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term “required annual payment” means the lesser of—
If the adjusted gross income shown on the return of the individual for the preceding taxable year beginning in any calendar year exceeds $150,000, clause (ii) of subparagraph (B) shall be applied by substituting “110 percent” for “100 percent”.
In the case of a married individual (within the meaning of section 7703) who files a separate return for the taxable year for which the amount of the installment is being determined, clause (i) shall be applied by substituting “$75,000” for “$150,000”.
In the case of an estate or trust, adjusted gross income shall be determined as provided in section 67(e).
In the case of any required installment, if the individual establishes that the annualized income installment is less than the amount determined under paragraph (1)—
In the case of any required installment, the annualized income installment is the excess (if any) of—
For purposes of this paragraph—
The taxable income, alternative minimum taxable income, and adjusted self-employment income shall be placed on an annualized basis under regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
In the case of the following
required installments:
The applicable percentage is:
1st
22.5
2nd
45
3rd
67.5
4th
90.
The term “adjusted self-employment income” means self-employment income (as defined in section 1402(b)); except that section 1402(b) shall be applied by placing wages (within the meaning of section 1402(b)) for months in the taxable year ending before the due date for the installment on an annualized basis consistent with clause (i).
Any amounts required to be included in gross income under section 951(a) (and credits properly allocable thereto) shall be taken into account in computing any annualized income installment under subparagraph (B) in a manner similar to the manner under which partnership income inclusions (and credits properly allocable thereto) are taken into account.
If a taxpayer elects to have this clause apply to any taxable year—
No addition to tax shall be imposed under subsection (a) for any taxable year if the tax shown on the return for such taxable year (or, if no return is filed, the tax), reduced by the credit allowable under section 31, is less than $1,000.
No addition to tax shall be imposed under subsection (a) for any taxable year if—
No addition to tax shall be imposed under subsection (a) with respect to any underpayment to the extent the Secretary determines that by reason of casualty, disaster, or other unusual circumstances the imposition of such addition to tax would be against equity and good conscience.
No addition to tax shall be imposed under subsection (a) with respect to any underpayment if the Secretary determines that—
the taxpayer—
For purposes of this section, the term “tax” means—
For purposes of applying this section, the amount of the credit allowed under section 31 for the taxable year shall be deemed a payment of estimated tax, and an equal part of such amount shall be deemed paid on each due date for such taxable year, unless the taxpayer establishes the dates on which all amounts were actually withheld, in which case the amounts so withheld shall be deemed payments of estimated tax on the dates on which such amounts were actually withheld.
The taxpayer may apply paragraph (1) separately with respect to—
If, on or before January 31 of the following taxable year, the taxpayer files a return for the taxable year and pays in full the amount computed on the return as payable, then no addition to tax shall be imposed under subsection (a) with respect to any underpayment of the 4th required installment for the taxable year.
For purposes of this section—
If an individual is a farmer or fisherman for any taxable year—
subsection (h) shall be applied—
An individual is a farmer or fisherman for any taxable year if—
In the case of a nonresident alien described in section 6072(c):
There shall be 3 required installments for the taxable year.
The due dates for required installments under this subsection shall be determined under the following table: In the case of the following required installments:The due date is: 1stJune 15 2ndSeptember 15 3rdJanuary 15 of the following taxable year.
In the case of the first required installment, subsection (d) shall be applied by substituting “50 percent” for “25 percent” in subsection (d)(1)(A).
The applicable percentage for purposes of subsection (d)(2) shall be determined under the following table: In the case of the following required installments:The applicable percentage is: 1st22.5 2nd45 3rd67.5 4th90.
In applying this section to a taxable year beginning on any date other than January 1, there shall be substituted, for the months specified in this section, the months which correspond thereto.
This section shall be applied to taxable years of less than 12 months in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, this section shall apply to any estate or trust.
With respect to any taxable year ending before the date 2 years after the date of the decedent’s death, this section shall not apply to—
any trust—
This section shall not apply to any trust which is subject to the tax imposed by section 511 or which is a private foundation.
In the case of any estate or trust to which this section applies, subsection (d)(2)(B)(i) shall be applied by substituting “ending before the date 1 month before the due date for the installment” for “ending before the due date for the installment”.
For purposes of this section, the tax imposed under section 3101(b)(2) (to the extent not withheld) shall be treated as a tax imposed under chapter 2.
The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
Legislative history
The public laws that enacted or amended this section. Tallies are for the whole bill as it passed each chamber — often an omnibus covering far more than this provision — not a vote on this section alone. The law that originally enacted this section predates the public laws loaded here, so only later amendments are listed.
- An Act to extend the Renegotiation Act of 1951 for one year, and for other purposes.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- An Act to provide a 7-percent increase in social security benefits beginning with March 1974 and an additional 4-percent increase beginning with June 1974, to provide increases in supplemental security income benefits, and for other purposes.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- A bill to amend the Tariff Schedules of the United States to permit the importation of upholstery regulators, upholsterer's regulating needles, and upholsterer's pins free of duty.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Tax Reform Act of 1976House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Tax Reduction and Simplification Act of 1977House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Revenue Act of 1978House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Technical Corrections Act of 1982House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- An act to promote economic revitalization and facilitate expansion of economic opportunities in the Caribbean Basin region, to provide for backup withholding of tax from interest and dividends, and for other purposes.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Deficit Reduction Act of 1984House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Tax Reform Act of 1986House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989House: no recorded tallySenate: 87–7
- Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991
- Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993
- Uruguay Round Agreements Act
- Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997
- Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999
- Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999
- American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
- Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018House: 256–167Senate: no recorded tally