Federal and California estimated taxes: one payment planning worksheet TaxClover · Published 2026-10-29 · Updated 2026-10-29 https://www.taxclover.com/resources/federal-california-estimated-tax-worksheet Compare federal and California installments in a worked 2026 example, then keep amounts, due dates, and payment confirmations in one editable worksheet. Illustrative 2026 plan for a calendar-year individual under ordinary installment rules, with no withholding, credits carried forward, or special relief. Annual payment requirements are assumed inputs, not computed from income. TaxClover does not file returns or make payments. Keep two tax calculations and one calendar A shared calendar can make federal and California estimated payments easier to track, but the two agencies need separate calculations and separate payments. The federal amount is not a base to multiply by a California rate. Start with the applicable federal worksheet and California Form 540-ES, then bring their prepared annual payment requirements into your calendar. For an ordinary equal-installment federal plan, payments are divided into four equal amounts. California's ordinary schedule uses 30%, 40%, 0%, and 30%. The FTB's 2026 dates match the four federal installment dates in this example, but the amounts due at each point differ. Worked example: $8,000 federal and $3,000 California Assume a fictional taxpayer's completed worksheets produce an $8,000 federal required annual payment and a $3,000 California required annual payment. There is no withholding, prior-year overpayment applied, or payment already made at the start of the plan. Income is treated under the ordinary installment method. These are payment targets, not assumed total tax bills. Federal installments are $8,000 × 25%, or $2,000 each. California installments are $3,000 × 30% = $900, $3,000 × 40% = $1,200, $0 for the third ordinary installment, and $900 for the fourth. Use the combined column to plan cash availability, then pay each agency its own amount. 2026 tax-year installment | Federal | California | Combined cash needed April 15, 2026 | $2,000 | $900 | $2,900 June 15, 2026 | $2,000 | $1,200 | $3,200 September 15, 2026 | $2,000 | $0 | $2,000 January 15, 2027 | $2,000 | $900 | $2,900 Annual total | $8,000 | $3,000 | $11,000 Why paying one quarter of California's target can miss the schedule Dividing $3,000 by four produces $750 per date. By the June deadline, that approach would pay California $1,500, while the example's required cumulative amount is $900 + $1,200 = $2,100. The difference is $600 even though the taxpayer intends to reach $3,000 by January. California's zero third ordinary installment does not erase an unpaid earlier amount. Nor does a bank balance labeled tax savings count as a payment to either agency. The worksheet should record a payment as completed only when you have the agency confirmation and the relevant account or bank record. Use a dated ledger when reviewing the plan in autumn Suppose the fictional taxpayer reviews this schedule on October 29, 2026. If all three earlier federal payments and the first two California payments were made on time, the ledger shows $6,000 federal and $2,100 California paid. Under the unchanged assumptions, the January installment still planned is $2,000 federal plus $900 California. If an earlier payment is missing, record its actual date and amount instead of rewriting the plan as though it happened on time. Review the federal and California underpayment rules separately. An annual total alone does not establish timely payment, and this worksheet does not calculate penalties. Check that the January 2027 payment is designated for the 2026 tax year. Save the agency, tax year, payment type, confirmation, amount, and date together. A combined calendar is helpful; a combined undifferentiated payment total is not enough to reconcile two tax accounts. Know when this example needs a different calculation California's prior-year comparison generally changes to 110% when prior-year California AGI exceeds $150,000, or $75,000 if married/RDP filing separately. At current-year California AGI of $1 million or more ($500,000 for married/RDP filing separately), the state requires the current-year 90% basis. Do not assume a federal prior-year target establishes the California target. Withholding, applied overpayments, uneven income, changed projections, and special taxpayer rules require the appropriate worksheet treatment. If income arrived in bursts, investigate annualization for each jurisdiction rather than applying a federal result to California. Verify any applicable disaster postponement with the relevant agency; the table shows ordinary dates. The IRS and FTB sources below establish the schedule; the $8,000 and $3,000 figures are editorial assumptions. Recalculate the annual requirements before changing future amounts. Keep a separate estimate of the final filing balance, since a required payment target may be lower than the tax eventually owed. Make the worksheet a record, not just a reminder Write the source and date of each prepared annual requirement in the first section. Put federal and California installments on separate lines for each deadline. After each payment, add the confirmation and reconcile it against the agency's records. Mark an unconfirmed payment as pending rather than counting it twice after retrying. The editable HTML worksheet works locally and saves a copy of your entries. It does not calculate the required annual payment, apply credits, or initiate a transfer. Use it with the California guide, the federal deadline calendar, and your completed tax worksheets. Federal and California estimated-payment ledger Bring prepared tax requirements into one calendar while keeping each agency's payments separate. Do not enter account numbers or Social Security numbers. Tax year, review date, and taxpayer assumptions: ____________________________________________________________ Federal annual requirement: amount, source, and preparation date: ____________________________________________________________ California annual requirement: amount, source, and preparation date: ____________________________________________________________ Withholding, applied credits, or exceptions needing separate calculation: ____________________________________________________________ April installment: agency, required amount, paid amount, date, confirmation: ____________________________________________________________ June installment: agency, required amount, paid amount, date, confirmation: ____________________________________________________________ September installment: agency, required amount, paid amount, date, confirmation: ____________________________________________________________ January installment: agency, required amount, paid amount, date, confirmation: ____________________________________________________________ Unpaid, pending, or mismatched payments requiring review: ____________________________________________________________ Updated projection, filing-balance reserve, and next review date: ____________________________________________________________ Sources reviewed 2026-10-29 IRS Publication 505 (2026): installment dates and methods: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p505 IRS Topic 306: installment and underpayment considerations: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc306 California FTB: estimated tax payment schedule and high-income rules: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/pay/estimated-tax-payments.html 2026 California Form 540-ES instructions: https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2026/2026-540-es-instructions.pdf Continue your task California estimated tax payment guide: https://www.taxclover.com/california-estimated-tax-payments Federal quarterly tax dates for 2026: https://www.taxclover.com/quarterly-tax-due-dates-2026 Review a W-2 job alongside freelance income: https://www.taxclover.com/resources/w2-and-1099-tax-checklist Federal safe-harbor comparison: https://www.taxclover.com/safe-harbor-tax-calculator