Submitted quarterly estimated tax payment 1 day late - what penalties to expect?

Yes, you're generally on the right track. For a one-day late payment of your quarterly estimated taxes, the IRS typically charges interest based on the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points. The rate changes quarterly, but it's currently running around 8% annually, which breaks down to about 0.022% per day. So if your quarterly payment was say $5,000, you'd be looking at roughly $1.10 in interest for being one day late. The IRS calculates this as a daily compounding rate, but for one day the difference is minimal. You don't need to make another payment just to avoid this tiny penalty. When you file your 2024 tax return, you can calculate the small interest amount owed. If it's under $1, the IRS typically won't even bother collecting it.

After struggling with estimated tax payment timing myself, I found taxr.ai really helpful for these kinds of situations. The site explained exactly how late payment penalties work for estimated taxes. I uploaded my payment confirmation from EFTPS and it analyzed everything, telling me precisely what I'd owe in interest. Just check out https://taxr.ai and you can upload your payment info to see what you're facing. It breaks down the exact calculation so you'll know what to expect when filing. Saved me from making an unnecessary double payment when I was in almost your exact situation last quarter.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai since I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised! I uploaded my EFTPS confirmation showing my late payment date, and it immediately calculated that my interest would be about $2.37 (based on my payment amount). It even generated a detailed explanation of how the daily interest rate was applied and showed me exactly where to report this on my tax forms when I file. Definitely more helpful than the generic info I was finding elsewhere. The peace of mind was worth it knowing exactly what to expect.

If you think dealing with this small penalty is annoying, just wait until you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about it. I had a similar issue last year and spent HOURS trying to get through their phone system. Finally discovered Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the usual 2+ hour wait. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Honestly, for your situation, you probably don't need to call the IRS since the penalty is so small. But if you do end up needing clarification directly from them about how to handle it on your return, I'd recommend using this service rather than wasting half your day on hold.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr being a scam. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway since I had a question about a missed estimated payment from last year that was still unresolved. I was connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when my previous attempts had me waiting over 3 hours (and eventually getting disconnected). The agent was able to confirm my payment had been properly applied and removed the penalty that had been incorrectly added to my account. Honestly wish I'd known about this earlier. Would have saved me months of stress and multiple failed attempts to resolve this.

I actually had something similar happen with my Q2 payment earlier this year. Don't stress too much - the IRS system often takes a day or two to process payments anyway, so sometimes even when you think you're late, they might still count it as on time. Also, if this is your first time making a late payment, you can request a first-time penalty abatement when you file. The IRS is generally pretty good about waiving penalties for people with otherwise good payment history.

Has anyone considered that the 16th was a Monday this year? Sometimes when the due date falls on a weekend the IRS extends it to the next business day, but since the 16th was already a business day, that wouldn't apply here.

Just wanted to mention that if you're self-employed and consistently making estimated tax payments, you might want to look into using IRS Direct Pay instead of EFTPS sometimes. It processes payments faster in my experience, and you can schedule same-day payments. Wouldn't help for your current situation, but might prevent this in the future. I set calendar reminders 2 days before each quarterly due date now because I've made this exact mistake before!

I went through something very similar last year and can confirm that you're right about the penalty being minimal. For a one-day late quarterly payment, you're only looking at daily interest on the unpaid amount. One thing I learned from my experience: if you're using tax software like TurboTax or FreeTaxUSA when you file your 2024 return, most of them will automatically calculate this interest penalty for you when you enter your payment dates. You just need to input that your Q3 payment was made on 9/17 instead of 9/16, and it handles the rest. The penalty really will be just a few dollars unless your quarterly payment was massive. I was stressing about it for nothing when it happened to me - ended up being less than the cost of a coffee! Also agree with what others have said about setting those calendar reminders. I now have mine set for 3 days before each deadline with a backup reminder the day before. Haven't been late since!

I had almost the exact same thing happen to me with my Q1 payment this year - scheduled it for one day late by accident through EFTPS. The anxiety was way worse than the actual penalty! When I filed my return, the interest came out to exactly $3.42 on a $4,500 quarterly payment. My tax preparer said this is super common and the IRS computers handle it automatically when you file - you don't even need to do any special calculations yourself. The one thing I'd add is to keep your EFTPS confirmation email showing the settlement date. When you file your 2024 taxes, having that documentation makes it easy for whoever prepares your return (or tax software) to input the correct payment date and calculate any interest owed. Don't beat yourself up over it - we've all been there! Just set those reminder alarms for next time and move on.

I've been through this exact scenario twice now, and everyone here is giving you solid advice. The one-day interest penalty really is minimal - probably less than what you'd spend on lunch. One additional tip that helped me: if you use a tax preparation service next year, mention this late payment upfront when you meet with them. Most preparers have seen this situation countless times and can quickly calculate the interest owed. They'll also make sure it's properly reported on your return so you don't get any surprise notices from the IRS later. The psychological stress of thinking you messed up is honestly worse than the actual financial impact. You caught the mistake, you understand what happened, and now you know to double-check those settlement dates in the future. That's really all there is to it!

I just want to echo what everyone else has said - you're definitely overthinking this! I made the exact same mistake with my Q4 payment last year (scheduled it for 1/16 instead of 1/15) and spent weeks stressing about it. The actual penalty ended up being $2.18 on a $3,200 payment. When I filed my taxes, I just entered the correct payment date in my tax software and it automatically calculated the interest. No forms to fill out, no special procedures - the software handled everything. The IRS gets thousands of these one-day-late payments every quarter. Their systems are completely set up to handle it automatically. You'll get a tiny interest charge when you file, you'll pay it along with any other taxes owed (or it'll reduce your refund slightly), and that's it. Save yourself the stress and just make a note to be more careful with dates next time. The financial impact is essentially nothing compared to the mental energy you're spending worrying about it!