Why this matters if you're on a 1099

When you drive, deliver, or pick up shifts as an independent contractor, nobody withholds tax from your pay the way an employer would for a W-2 job. That's on you to handle a few times a year through estimated tax payments. The good news is that the IRS has made paying online pretty painless — you don't need an accountant or a stack of paper vouchers to get it done.

This post walks through the actual steps of setting up a payment online. If you're still figuring out how much to pay or whether you owe at all, check out our guides on quarterly estimated taxes and how much to save for taxes each month first.

Your main option: IRS Direct Pay

For most individual taxpayers, Direct Pay is free and lets you schedule a payment up to 365 days in advance; if the withdrawal succeeds, you get credit for the day you selected, though processing can take up to two business days. It pulls money straight from your checking or savings account — no third-party processor, no app download.

Here's what the IRS itself tells taxpayers about it: IRS Direct Pay is a free and secure way for individual taxpayers to pay tax bills and make estimated tax payments directly from their bank accounts, and the IRS gives taxpayers instant confirmation when they submit their payment.

Step by step

  1. Go to the official page. Head to IRS.gov and look for Direct Pay under the Payments section, or use the direct link the IRS publishes for this tool.
  2. Pick your reason for payment. Select "Estimated Tax" as the reason for payment, "1040ES (Estimated Tax)" as what you're applying it to, and choose the current tax year.
  3. Verify your identity. You'll need to enter your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and filing status — this usually matches information from a prior-year tax return.
  4. Enter the amount and date. Type in how much you want to pay and the date you want the money pulled. You can schedule it for the actual due date or pay early if you'd rather not think about it later.
  5. Add your bank details. Enter your routing and account number, double-check everything, and submit.
  6. Save your confirmation. You'll get a confirmation number right away, so save it for your records in case any question comes up later.

Because Direct Pay only lets you submit one payment at a time, you can schedule payments up to 365 days in advance, but each of the four quarterly payments needs its own submission — you can't set up all four at once.

What about your IRS Online Account?

If you'd rather not re-enter your information every quarter, setting up an IRS Online Account is another path. You can go to IRS.gov, sign in or create an account, click "Make a Payment," select Estimated Tax (Form 1040-ES), and choose your payment method — bank account or card. The upside of an Online Account is that it keeps a record of your payment history, pending payments, and balances in one spot, which can be handy if you're trying to track four payments across the year.

What about EFTPS?

You may have heard of EFTPS (the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) as another way to pay. It still works, but it's being phased out for new individual sign-ups. Existing individual users can still access EFTPS, but new individual enrollments are being phased out as of 2025–2026, and individuals looking to pay personal income taxes or estimated taxes should use IRS Direct Pay instead. Unlike Direct Pay, EFTPS enrollment can take about a week, since initial online enrollment is followed by information sent by physical mail before the process is complete — not ideal if a deadline is close.

Can you pay by card instead?

Yes, but it'll cost you. Direct Pay from a bank account and EFTPS are both free, while paying by debit or credit card through a processor carries a fee. If you're trying to keep more of your money, paying straight from your bank account is the cheaper move.

Know your due dates

Estimated taxes aren't paid monthly — they follow an IRS schedule split into four uneven chunks. If you pay quarterly estimated taxes, payments are due on April 15, 2026; June 15, 2026; September 15, 2026; and January 15, 2027. If any of those dates lands on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

For a full breakdown of what's due when, see our 2026 tax deadlines guide.

A few things that trip people up

  • Wrong tax year. It's easy to accidentally apply a payment to the wrong year in the dropdown menu — double-check before you submit.
  • Wrong form. Make sure you're selecting 1040-ES for estimated tax, not a balance-due payment for a past return.
  • Missing the window to edit. With Direct Pay, you generally have a short window to change or cancel a scheduled payment — don't wait until the last minute if you spot a mistake.
  • No confirmation saved. Always screenshot or save your confirmation number. If a payment doesn't show up on your account later, that number is your proof you paid on time.

The bottom line

Setting up an estimated tax payment online doesn't require much more than your bank account and a few minutes. IRS Direct Pay is free, doesn't need an account, and gives you instant confirmation — which makes it the simplest option for most gig and 1099 workers sending in a quarterly payment. If you expect to be doing this every quarter for years to come, an IRS Online Account can help you keep everything in one place.

If quarterly payments feel tight on a gig income that swings week to week, setting aside a slice of every deposit as it comes in — rather than scrambling before the deadline — tends to make the whole thing less stressful.