Self employeed people must estimate their taxes and send their payments to the IRS quarterly. But with a variable income how do you determine what you owe? The easiest way to tackle this problem is to have me do it for you. A service I include if I file your income tax return. But if you would like to do this on your own, here are some tips:

1. Use your prior years data. If you think this year will be comparable to last year simply take your total unfunded tax liability and divide it by four.

2. Pay as you go. Take your prior year income tax rate. Deduct this percentage from every deposit you make and keep it in a separate account. Each quarter pay this percentage to the IRS.

3. Use the method the IRS suggests. Go to the IRS site and open Publication 505. Read through the instructions then complete the worksheet.

4. Plan ahead. Don't get surprised next year.

You can pay estimated taxes any time. But here are the required dates set by the IRS:

April 15th

June 15th

September 15th

January 14th of the following year

You can make your payments electronically or by mail.

Failure to pay your taxes timely will result in penalties and interest. So if you are not already making estimated taxes, it is time to get started.