California Estimated Tax Payments 2026

The FTB’s 2026 instructions for Form 540-ES set two tests: the tax you expect to owe for 2026 after withholding and credits, and how much your withholding and credits will cover compared with the smaller of two safe-harbor amounts.

• You generally must pay if you expect to owe at least $500 ($250 if married/RDP filing separately) for 2026 after withholding and credits and your withholding and credits will be less than the smaller of 90% of your 2026 tax or 100% of your 2025 tax, including AMT.

  “Generally, you must make estimated tax payments if you expect to owe at least $500 ($250 if married/RDP filing separately) in tax for 2026 (after subtracting withholding and credits) and you expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of: 90% of the tax shown on your 2026 tax return; or 100% of the tax shown on your 2025 tax return including Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).”

• A nonresident or new resident of California in 2026 who had no California tax liability in 2025 does not have to make estimated tax payments.

  “You do not have to make estimated tax payments if you are a nonresident or new resident of California in 2026 and did not have a California tax liability in 2025.”

California differs from the federal rule that splits the required annual payment into four equal installments. The FTB sets the share of each installment in the instructions, and its worksheet turns the balance into the amounts for each voucher.

• The first installment is 30% of the required annual payment, the second is 40%, no installment is due for the third, and the fourth is 30%.

  “Installments due shall be 30% of the required annual payment for the 1st required installment, 40% of the required annual payment for the 2nd required installment, no installment is due for the 3rd required installment, and 30% of the required annual payment for the 4th required installment.”

• On the FTB worksheet you multiply the balance on line 21 by 30% for the first and fourth installments and by 40% for the second; there is no required third installment.

  “Multiply the amount on line 21 by 30%. Enter the results on the 1st and 4th installments of your Forms 540-ES. Multiply the amount on line 21 by 40%. Enter the result on the 2nd installment of your Form 540-ES. There is not a required 3rd installment payment.”

• If your 2025 California AGI was more than $150,000 ($75,000 if married/RDP filing separately), the prior-year safe harbor is 110% of your 2025 tax, not 100%, and you use the lesser of that and 90% of your 2026 tax.

  “Individuals who are required to make estimated tax payments, and whose 2025 California adjusted gross income is more than $150,000 (or $75,000 if married/RDP filing separately) must figure estimated tax based on the lesser of 90% of their tax for 2026 or 110% of their tax for 2025 including AMT.”

• If your 2026 California AGI is $1,000,000 or more ($500,000 if married/RDP filing separately), the prior-year safe harbor is not available and the estimate is based on your 2026 tax.

  “Taxpayers with 2026 California adjusted gross income equal to or greater than $1,000,000 (or $500,000 if married/RDP filing separately) must figure estimated tax based on their tax for 2026.”

California lets you skip the last installment by filing early, and it gives farmers and fishermen a different schedule. The wording is the FTB’s:

• File your 2026 return by January 31, 2027 and pay the entire balance due, and you do not have to make the January 15, 2027 payment; the FTB says you will not owe a penalty for the fourth installment either.

  “If you file your 2026 tax return by January 31, 2027, and pay the entire balance due, you do not have to make your last estimated tax payment.”

• If at least two-thirds of your 2025 or 2026 gross income is from farming or fishing, you may pay all of your estimated tax by January 15, 2027, or file your 2026 return on or before March 1, 2027 and pay the total tax due.

  “If at least two-thirds of your 2025 or 2026 gross income is from farming or fishing, you may do either of the following: Pay all of your estimated tax by January 15, 2027. File your tax return for 2026 on or before March 1, 2027, and pay the total tax due.”

• Fiscal-year filers pay on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, and 9th months of the fiscal year and the 1st month of the next fiscal year; the FTB adds that a due date on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day.

  “If you file your tax return on a fiscal year basis, your due dates will be the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, and 9th months of your fiscal year and the 1st month of the following fiscal year.”

The form is Form 540-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals: one voucher for each due date, with the due date printed in the top margin. Paying online with FTB Web Pay (ftb.ca.gov/pay) needs no voucher. To pay by mail, send the voucher with the check or money order to Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 942867, Sacramento, CA 94267-0008.

• Web Pay lets you pay online or schedule a payment up to one year in advance, and you do not mail a Form 540-ES if you use it.

  “Web Pay – Make a payment online or schedule a future payment (up to one year in advance). Go to ftb.ca.gov/pay for more information. Do not mail Forms 540-ES to us.”

• For a paper payment, make the check or money order payable to the “Franchise Tax Board” and write your SSN or ITIN and “2026 Form 540-ES” on it.

  “make your check or money order payable to the “Franchise Tax Board.” Write your SSN or ITIN and “2026 Form 540-ES” on it”

• Once an estimated or extension payment exceeds $20,000, or an original return shows total tax liability over $80,000, all later payments must be electronic; the FTB says a payment that is not electronic then carries a 1% noncompliance penalty.

  “You are required to remit all your payments electronically once you make an estimate or extension payment exceeding $20,000 or you file an original tax return with a total tax liability over $80,000.”

Official page: FTB Web Pay. Form: Form 540-ES (Estimated Tax for Individuals).

The FTB does not print a penalty rate in the Form 540-ES instructions, so this page does not state one. The instructions send you to Form FTB 5805, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and Fiduciaries, for the calculation, and describe how the penalty works:

• A penalty may be assessed if you skip a required payment, pay an installment late or underpay one. It runs on the underpaid portion from the installment due date until the payment date or the return due date, whichever is earlier.

  “If you do not make the required estimated payments, if you pay an installment after the date it is due, or if you underpay any installment, a penalty may be assessed on the portion of estimated tax that was underpaid from the due date of the installment to the date of payment or the due date of your tax return, whichever is earlier.”