For 2020 1040, what line shows total tax liability for Estimated Tax purposes?

Thanks for this! What about if I had a significantly higher income in 2021 compared to 2020? I'm worried that the 100% of 2020 won't be enough. Also, is there any way to figure out if I might need to make state estimated tax payments too?

If your income increased significantly in 2021, you might still be fine using the safe harbor provision (100% or 110% of 2020 tax), since that's specifically designed to protect you from penalties regardless of income changes. However, you'll still ultimately owe the full tax on your actual 2021 income when you file - the safe harbor just helps you avoid underpayment penalties. For state estimated tax payments, each state has different requirements. Generally, you'll need to check your state tax return from last year for total tax liability and check your state's tax website for their specific estimated payment requirements. Many states follow the federal 90%/100% safe harbor rules, but some have different thresholds or deadlines.

Does taxr.ai work with scanned documents? I have all my tax forms from previous years but they're PDFs I scanned at the office. Also, can it help with figuring out state estimated payments too?

I've heard about these AI tax tools but I'm a bit skeptical. How accurate is it really? My tax situation is complicated with rental properties and some investment income. Would it actually understand all the nuances?

Yes, it works great with scanned documents! That's actually one of the main features - you can upload PDFs and it extracts all the relevant information. It was able to read my messy scanned 1040 with no problems and even pointed out where certain numbers came from on my W-2s and 1099s. Regarding complicated tax situations, I was surprised by how well it handled mine. I have a small business with multiple income streams, and it was able to identify all the relevant sections and explain how they impacted my estimated payments. It clearly explains the reasoning behind its calculations, so you can verify everything makes sense for your specific situation with rentals and investments.

How does this actually work? I've been trying to get through to the IRS for weeks about an amended return issue. Do they just keep calling for you or something? Seems too good to be true.

Yeah right. No way this actually works. IRS phone lines are IMPOSSIBLE. I've tried calling over 30 times about my missing refund. If there was a service that could really get through, it would cost a fortune.

It basically works by using technology to navigate the IRS phone tree and wait on hold for you. Once they get through to an agent, you get a call to connect you directly. So instead of you personally waiting on hold for hours, their system does it for you. The reason it works better than individual callers is they have some kind of system that knows the best times to call and which menu options to select for different departments. When I used it, I got a text when they were getting close to reaching an agent, then another text when it was time to connect. Way better than listening to that horrible hold music for hours!

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I checked my 2020 return and found line 24 showing my total tax liability. Just to confirm, this is the amount I should use to make sure I've paid enough for 2021 through the combination of withholding and estimated payments, right?

Exactly right! Line 24 from your 2020 return is the number you should use as your target for total 2021 payments (both withholding and estimated payments combined). If your income in 2020 was less than $150,000, you need to pay 100% of that line 24 amount. If your 2020 income was over $150,000, you need to pay 110% of that line 24 amount to hit the safe harbor protection against underpayment penalties.

This is so important! My first year being self-employed I completely underestimated my tax liability because I forgot about the self-employment tax. Ended up owing a bunch more than I planned for.