I'm a W2 employee but my husband just became 1099 - confused about how to handle quarterly tax payments

You're on the right track! When your spouse becomes a 1099 contractor while you remain W2, it does complicate things a bit, but it's manageable. Yes, for the quarterly estimated payments, you'll need to account for both the Self Employment tax (15.3%) AND the additional income tax. Since you file jointly, you're right that you need to consider your combined income to determine your tax bracket. The simplest approach is to use Form 1040-ES to calculate your estimated tax for the year. This form helps you account for both your W2 income (with withholding) and your spouse's 1099 income (without withholding). A quick way to estimate: Take your husband's expected 1099 income ($52k), calculate the SE tax (about $7,956), then figure the income tax on your combined incomes. Compare the total tax to what will be withheld from your W2 job. The difference (plus the SE tax) is roughly what you need to pay in quarterly installments. Remember that if your withholding from your W2 job is high enough, you might be able to cover some or all of the additional tax from your husband's 1099 income.

After struggling with a similar situation last year when my partner went 1099, I discovered this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that made figuring out our quarterly payments so much easier! You upload your W2 and any previous 1099 info, and it calculates your quarterly payments based on your combined situation. It even adjusts for your W2 withholding so you don't overpay. What I really liked is that it showed me exactly how much of each payment was for income tax vs. self-employment tax, which helped me understand the whole process better. It also lets you update your income projections throughout the year if your husband's 1099 earnings change.

I wanted to follow up about that taxr.ai site I was skeptical about earlier. I decided to give it a try since our quarterly payment was coming up, and honestly, it was super helpful! It showed us that we were actually overpaying on our quarterlies by almost $700 per quarter because I wasn't accounting for my husband's business expenses correctly. The analysis broke down exactly what portion was SE tax versus income tax, and it adjusted for the withholding from my W2 job. We also discovered we qualified for some deductions we didn't know about. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this W2/1099 split situation like we are.

If you're having trouble figuring this out and need to talk to someone at the IRS for guidance (which I did when my wife started her 1099 work), good luck getting through on the phone! I spent HOURS on hold before giving up. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have a demo video of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically they navigate the IRS phone system for you and call you when they have an agent on the line. The IRS agent walked me through exactly how to calculate our quarterly payments with our mixed W2/1099 situation and explained we could adjust my W2 withholding using a W-4 to account for some of my wife's 1099 income instead of paying it all through quarterlies.

I have to eat my words about the Claimyr service. After struggling for TWO DAYS trying to get through to the IRS myself about our W2/1099 situation (kept getting disconnected after 2+ hours on hold), I broke down and tried it. Got connected to an IRS agent in 35 minutes and they helped us figure out exactly how to handle our quarterly payments. The agent confirmed we could increase my withholding at my W2 job to cover part of my wife's 1099 income, which is easier than making separate quarterly payments for everything. For anyone in a similar situation with mixed income sources, it was definitely worth it to speak directly with the IRS rather than guessing about the calculations.

Have you thought about just increasing your W2 withholding at your job instead of making quarterly payments? When my husband started 1099 work, I adjusted my W4 to have extra withheld from each paycheck. It was easier than dealing with quarterly payments, and we didn't have to worry about forgetting a quarterly deadline.

Watch out for underpayment penalties! When my husband went 1099 last year, we messed up the quarterly payments and got hit with penalties. Make sure you're paying enough throughout the year. The safe harbor rule saved us from bigger penalties - if you pay 100% of last year's tax liability through withholding/estimated payments (or 110% if your AGI was over $150k), you won't face penalties even if you end up owing more at tax time.

I went through this exact same situation last year when my spouse transitioned to 1099 work! One thing that really helped us was using the IRS withholding calculator on their website (irs.gov/W4App) - it's designed to handle mixed income situations like yours. What we discovered is that you have flexibility in how you handle the payments. You can either: 1. Make quarterly estimated payments for your husband's 1099 income 2. Increase your W2 withholding to cover the additional tax 3. Do a combination of both For the calculation, yes, you'll use your combined income to determine your marginal tax rate. A rough estimate for your husband's $52k would be about $7,956 in SE tax plus income tax at your marginal rate on the remaining amount after the SE deduction. One tip: Consider making your first quarter payment a bit higher than calculated to create a buffer, then you can adjust the remaining quarters based on his actual earnings. It's easier to get a refund than deal with underpayment penalties!

This is such great information from everyone! I'm in a very similar boat - I'm W2 making about $140k and my wife just started freelance consulting. One thing I wanted to add that helped us was setting up a separate savings account specifically for quarterly tax payments. We automatically transfer 25-30% of each of her 1099 payments into this account so the money is already set aside when quarterly payments are due. It prevents us from accidentally spending the tax money and makes the quarterly payments feel less painful since the money was never really "ours" to begin with. Also, don't forget that your husband can deduct business expenses from his 1099 income before calculating SE tax - things like home office expenses, business phone/internet, professional development, etc. These deductions can significantly reduce the amount subject to both SE tax and income tax. The IRS Publication 535 has a comprehensive list of business deductions that might apply to his situation. It's worth reviewing to make sure you're not missing any legitimate deductions!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation where I'm W2 ($128k) and my spouse just started 1099 work. One thing I wanted to share that we learned the hard way is to make sure you understand the quarterly payment due dates - they're not exactly every 3 months like I initially thought. The due dates are January 15, April 15, June 15, and September 15 (or the next business day if it falls on a weekend/holiday). We almost missed our first payment because I assumed it was due at the end of each quarter rather than these specific dates. Also, if your husband's 1099 income is irregular throughout the year, you might want to look into the "annualized income installment method" that someone mentioned earlier. We used it last year when my spouse had a huge contract in Q4, and it saved us from overpaying in the earlier quarters when her income was lower. One last tip - keep detailed records of all estimated payments you make. Use Form 1040ES vouchers or pay online through EFTPS, and save all confirmation numbers. This documentation will be crucial when you file your annual return to make sure you get credit for all the payments you made throughout the year. The learning curve is steep at first, but it gets much easier once you have a system in place!

One thing that really helped us when we went through this transition was tracking our effective tax rate from the previous year to get a baseline. Since you made $135k on W2 last year and now you're adding $52k of 1099 income, you can use your prior year return to estimate what your new effective rate will be on the combined $187k. Here's a simple approach that worked for us: Take your total tax from last year's return, add the estimated SE tax on your husband's income (about $7,356 on $52k after the SE deduction), then add the income tax on his net SE income at your marginal rate. This gives you a ballpark total tax liability. Subtract what will be withheld from your W2 job, and the remainder is what you need to cover through either quarterly payments or increased W2 withholding. The key insight for us was realizing that the first year is mostly about getting close to the right amount - you can always adjust your approach once you see how the actual numbers play out on your tax return. Don't stress too much about getting it perfect right away! Also, consider making your Q1 payment slightly conservative (higher) since your husband's income might ramp up throughout the year as he establishes his 1099 work. You can always adjust subsequent quarters based on his actual earnings pattern.