Quarterly Estimated Tax Tracker 2026: Self-Employment Tax Spreadsheet for Freelancers & Gig Workers (Excel & Google Sheets)
Freelancers and gig workers don't have tax taken out of each payment, so the IRS expects estimated payments during the year. This tracker keeps your 2026 income, expenses and payments in one file and gives you a simple estimate of what to set aside and what to pay by each due date.
Log income and expenses once. Type each payment you receive and each business expense. The tracker files every row into the right IRS payment period from its date.
See a self-employment tax estimate. It uses the 2026 IRS figures, each cited on the Setup tab: 92.35% of net profit, 12.4% social security (up to the $184,500 wage base, minus any W-2 wages you enter) plus 2.9% Medicare, and half of the SE tax as a deduction.
Add your own income tax rate. You enter the federal income tax rate and state set-aside % you want to use. The tracker doesn't guess tax brackets or deductions for you.
Know what % to set aside. The Dashboard shows the share of every payment to put aside for federal and state tax, based on your year so far.
Hit every 2026 due date. Apr 15, 2026, Jun 15, 2026, Sep 15, 2026 and Jan 15, 2027 are built in. The Dashboard shows the next due date, a suggested federal payment and the status of each payment.
Log your payments. Record each federal or state payment with its date, amount and confirmation number. Any shortfall rolls into the next suggested payment.
Optional safe-harbor helper. Enter the total tax from your 2025 return to see the prior-year amount per payment (100%, or 110% if your 2025 AGI was over $150,000, or $75,000 if married filing separately).
The preview images show sample data. The file you download is blank and ready for your own numbers.
Estimate only, not tax advice. This is an organizing and estimating tool. It does not prepare or file anything and does not replace Form 1040-ES or a tax professional.
Drive for work? Track business miles with the Gig Driver Mileage & Tax Log 2026.