Tax Week Checklist: What to Do Before April 15

April 15 is three days away. For most self-employed workers and freelancers, this is the busiest tax date of the year, with two separate deadlines and a penalty attached to missing either one. The work breaks down into three tasks, and none of them is hard on its own. Work through them in order and you will be done by Wednesday.

Task 1: Pay Your Q1 2026 Estimated Taxes

The first quarter of 2026 covered January 1 through March 31. If you earned self-employment income during that period and expect to owe at least $1,000 in taxes for the full year, you are generally required to make an estimated payment by April 15. This applies whether you earned the income from freelancing, gig work, consulting, or any other self-employed activity.

That leaves the question of how much to pay. There are two legitimate approaches.

Option A: Safe Harbor (Simpler)

Pay at least one-quarter of your total 2025 tax liability. This triggers the IRS safe harbor rule, which protects you from underpayment penalties regardless of what you actually earn in 2026. If your 2025 federal tax return shows a total tax of $9,600, your Q1 payment would be $9,600 divided by four, or $2,400. You do not need to know your current-year income to use this method.

If your 2025 adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeded $150,000, the safe harbor threshold rises to 110% of your 2025 tax. At $9,600 in prior-year tax, your quarterly payment would be $9,600 times 1.1, divided by four, or $2,640.

Option B: Current-Year Estimate (More Precise)

If you have a good sense of your Q1 2026 earnings and deductions, you can calculate an estimate based on actual income instead. This approach requires more work but can result in a lower payment if your 2026 income is trending below 2025 levels.

You can use the SE tax calculator to run these numbers for your own income. The calculator handles the SE taxable base, SE deduction, and income tax estimate in one step.

To submit your payment, go to IRS Direct Pay. Select "Estimated Tax" as the reason for payment and "1040-ES" as the form type. You get credit for the date you select, though a same-day payment submitted after 8 p.m. Eastern time will typically show in your IRS online account as made the next business day. You can also mail a check with Form 1040-ES, but postmark it by April 15. Electronic is safer and leaves a clear record.

Task 2: File Your 2025 Return or Request an Extension

Your 2025 federal tax return (Form 1040, with Schedule C for self-employment income) is due April 15. If you are not ready to file, you can request an automatic six-month extension by filing Form 4868, which pushes your filing deadline to October 15, 2026. The IRS processes extension requests automatically: no explanation required, and approval is not something you wait to hear about. Filing the extension form is sufficient.

If you have everything ready, filing now rather than extending has one real advantage: you will know exactly what you owe for 2025 and can set your Q2 and Q3 estimated payments with that number in hand. Uncertainty about your 2025 liability makes planning for 2026 quarterly payments harder.

Most self-employed filers who use tax software can complete Schedule C (business income and expenses), Schedule SE (self-employment tax calculation), and the main Form 1040 in a single session if their records are in order. If you tracked income and expenses throughout the year, gather those figures now: total gross income, total deductible expenses by category, and any 1099 forms you received. If your records are incomplete, extending and taking the time to reconstruct them accurately is better than guessing and amending later.

Task 3: Make Your 2025 SEP-IRA Contribution (If Applicable)

Many freelancers do not realize that certain retirement contributions for the 2025 tax year can still be made today and applied to reduce their 2025 tax bill. The window closes on your filing deadline, including extensions.

A SEP-IRA (Simplified Employee Pension) allows self-employed workers to contribute up to 25% of compensation, which for a sole proprietor works out to about 20% of net self-employment income after the SE tax deduction, with a 2025 maximum of $70,000. Contributions are deductible above the line, so they reduce your adjusted gross income. They do not reduce self-employment tax, which is figured on Schedule C profit before the contribution. For someone in the 22% income tax bracket, each $1,000 contributed saves at most $220 in income tax, and somewhat less once the smaller QBI deduction is counted.

To make a SEP-IRA contribution before April 15, you need an account established at a brokerage (Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab all offer them, typically with no annual fees). If you already have a SEP-IRA, you can fund it immediately online. If you do not, opening one takes 10 to 15 minutes on most brokerage websites, and you can open and fund it on the same day. When you file your return, you will claim the contribution as a deduction on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 16 (self-employed SEP, SIMPLE, and qualified plans).

Note: if your Solo 401k already existed in 2025, the employee deferral had to be elected by December 31, 2025, so beyond any deferral you elected by then, only the employer (profit-sharing) portion can still go in before your tax filing deadline. A sole proprietor with no employees and no plan yet can still adopt a new one for 2025 by April 15 and make first-year deferrals (IRS Publication 560). Check with your plan administrator for the exact calculation, as the formula differs from the SEP-IRA. A SEP-IRA is easier for a last-minute contribution because its limit is a single percentage.

What If You Cannot Pay What You Owe

If you have calculated your 2025 tax balance and do not have the full amount available, doing nothing is the most expensive option. Here is what to do instead.

The Complete Pre-April 15 Checklist

Use this checklist to confirm you have covered every action before Wednesday's deadline.

1. Calculate your Q1 2026 net self-employment income (gross income minus deductible business expenses for January through March).
2. Determine your Q1 estimated tax payment amount: either one-quarter of your 2025 total tax (safe harbor) or a current-year calculation based on Q1 earnings.
3. Submit your Q1 estimated payment via IRS Direct Pay or mail Form 1040-ES postmarked by April 15.
4. Gather your 2025 tax documents: 1099-NEC and 1099-K forms, total business income, deductible expenses by category (home office, mileage, health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, etc.).
5. File your 2025 Form 1040 with Schedule C and Schedule SE, or file Form 4868 for an automatic six-month extension.
6. If filing an extension, pay your best estimate of any 2025 taxes owed to minimize the failure-to-pay penalty. Pay online or with your extension form.
7. If you are self-employed and have not yet made a retirement contribution for 2025, consider opening or funding a SEP-IRA before April 15 (or before you file) to reduce your 2025 tax liability.
8. Confirm receipt: IRS Direct Pay shows an immediate confirmation number. Save it. For mailed items, use certified mail with a return receipt.
9. Set a reminder for Q2: the next estimated tax payment is due June 15, 2026 and covers April and May income.

What Comes Next

Once April 15 passes, the quarterly cycle keeps going. June 15 is only two months away, so now is a good time to set up a simple system for tracking income and expenses. Even a basic spreadsheet updated weekly takes less effort than reconstructing three months of transactions at deadline time. If you want something built for it, the free expense tracker in Self Employment Toolkit (from the same publisher as this site) sorts expenses by Schedule C line and stores receipt photos with each entry.

If you filed an extension and your 2025 return is still pending, the October 15 deadline gives you six months to get organized. Use that time to work with a tax professional if your situation is complex: multiple income sources, substantial deductions, a significant tax balance, or questions about retirement contributions and entity structure. Choices made now, such as whether to open a retirement plan, carry into every quarterly payment for the rest of the year.

The next article in this series covers what to do in the days immediately after April 15: how to organize for Q2, review your withholding situation, and start the second quarter with a clean financial slate.