Steve Pope <spope33[at]speedymail.org> wrote:

- quote -

I think that should be "lesser".

Seth

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

- quote -

Federal: Form 1040-ES, Payment Voucher 4
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es_05.pdf
(form and instructions in one file)

You have until January 17 to mail it. You have to send a
check with the form. In order to avoid a penalty, the total
of your withholding for the year plus the payment you send
with your 1040-ES voucher must meet one of the following
conditions.
- Be enough that you will owe less than $1,000 with your tax
return.
- Be at least 90% of your total 2005 tax liability.
- Be at least equal to your total 2004 tax liability (110% of
your 2004 tax liability if your 2004 AGI was over $150,000, or
over $75,000 if married filing separately).

The second and third conditions may not totally avoid the
penalty if you did not have enough withheld each quarter. In
calculating the penalty, your total withholding for the year
is treated as if it had been withheld evenly throughout the
year, so your extra withholding in December will help.

California: Form 540-ES, Payment Voucher 4
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/05_forms/05_540es.pdf
Instructions
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/05_forms/05_540esins.pdf

Also due January 17. To avoid a penalty, the total of your
withholding for the year plus the payment you send with your
540-ES voucher must meet one of the following conditions.
- Be enough that you will owe less than $200 with your tax
return.
- Be at least 90% of your total 2005 tax liability.
- Be at least equal to your total 2004 tax liability (110%
of your 2004 tax liability if your 2004 AGI was over
$150,000, or over $75,000 if married filing separately).

Bob Sandler

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

John Doe <abc[at]def.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes, form 1040-ES for the feds and 540-ES for the state.
Be sure to get the 2005 forms. You have until January 15
to do this, however if you are facing a penalty it will
be lower if you send in the payment sooner.

Note that you still might not avoid a penalty entirely,
because the government wants you to pay estimated taxes
either uniformly through the year, or proportionately to the
income for each period. (Where the periods are Jan-Mar,
April-May, Jun-Aug, Sept-Dec... not quite identical to
calendar quarters.)

On the other hand, if your income is up relative to 2004,
you might not owe a penalty because the required estimated
payments are based on the greater of your 2004 and 2005
incomes.

Good luck

Steve

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

John Doe <abc[at]def.com> wrote:

- quote -

Estimated Tax form will be the best you can do. There might
be some penalties left based on underpaying for the first
three quarters.

If you overpay your state tax (via the estimated tax form),
that might reduce your federal tax to the point of avoiding
a penalty. However, overpaying too much is abusive and
won't work.

Seth

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

John Doe <abc[at]def.com> wrote:

- quote -

I'm not a tax pro, but it seems you could use the normal
estimated tax form to pay any additional amount you believe
is due. Note that the next estimated tax payment date is
January 17, 2006, so if this payment will help at all, you
do not need to resolve this question by December 31, 2005.

I say "if it will help" because the IRS states that you may
be subject to a penalty if you have not paid enough taxes
for each quarter even if you have a refund due at the end of
the year. Also, if your underpayment is small enough, there
is no penalty, and there are also may be situations where
you do not owe a penalty even for a larger shortfall is your
income was all via W-2 sources and was too low through no
fault of your own - but I will let the pros deal with this
one.

You can find out more about estimated taxes at
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...110413,00.html

I believe the payment limits that trigger estimated taxes
are the same that trigger underpayment penalties, but I am
not completely sure.

--
Vic Roberts
Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

The combined tax withholding from my wife's and my salaries
for the year 2005 was less than what it should have been.
We tried to catch-up during the month of December but are
still short.

Is there an IRS form (Federal, State of California) that we
could fill out and submit before December 31 to avoid paying
a penalty ?

Please respond to the newsgroup; I have given a fake email
address to avoid spam.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >