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Individual Income Tax Estimated Payments

35 ILCS 5/Article 8

What are estimated tax payments?

Estimated tax payments are payments of income tax that are required to be paid evenly throughout the year.  Most people have withholding income tax taken out of their pay and are not familiar with the estimated payment requirement. 

You must make estimated income tax payments if you reasonably expect your tax liability for the year to exceed $1,000 after subtracting your Illinois withholding, pass-through withholding payments, and tax credits for

  • income tax paid to other states,
  • Illinois Property Tax paid,
  • education expenses,
  • volunteer emergency worker credit,
  • the Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit, and
  • Schedule 1299-C, Income Tax Subtractions and Credits (for individuals).

You will likely need to make estimated payments if your income is either fully or partially exempt from Illinois withholding.

If you do not receive your income evenly throughout the year or if you must begin making estimated payments in mid-year, see Form IL-2210, Computation of Penalties for Individuals, for further details on annualizing your income.

When are my payments due?

To avoid penalty, your estimated payment options are to pay:

  • four equal installments, or
  • annualized installments based upon the income for each quarter (See Form IL-2210 Instructions for Step 6), or
  • the full amount of tax due on the first installment date.

Installment dates are the following, unless the date falls on a weekend or holiday, then the payment will be due on the next business day.

  • April 15;
  • June 15;
  • September 15; and
  • January 15 of the following year.

Note: If you file on a fiscal-year basis, please adjust all the due dates to correspond to your tax year.

Are there any exceptions?

You do not have to make estimated payments if you are 65 years or older and permanently living in a nursing home or a farmer. We consider you a farmer if at least two-thirds of your total federal gross income is from farming.

For more information, refer to Form IL-1040-ES, Estimated Income Tax Payments for Individuals.

What if I do not make my estimated payments?

You may be assessed a late estimated payment penalty if you do not pay the required estimated payments on time.  We will apply each payment to the earliest due date until that liability is paid unless you provide specific instructions to apply it to another period.  However, if you pay at least 90 percent of this year's tax or 100 percent of last year's tax in four equal timely installments, you may not be subject to this penalty.

Note: If your income is not earned evenly throughout the year, you may be able to annualize (figure your estimated payment amounts based upon your income for the quarter) and avoid late estimated payment penalties by using the annualization worksheet on Form IL-2210, Computation of Penalties for Individuals.

For more information about penalties and interest, see Publication 103, Penalties and Interest for Illinois Taxes.