But this can be challenging, especially for the self-employed. If you were unemployed or had irregular income over the last year, it may be even harder. Here are some tips to ensure that you’re paying the IRS in a timely manner and won’t have to pay any penalties.

Adjust Your Withholding

Taxpayers who worked as employees throughout the last year might fare better than others who didn’t when it comes time to file their tax return by the April deadline. If you were an employee, you’ve already paid taxes as you earned income because taxes have been withheld from each of your paychecks. This was done based on the information you provided on your W-4 form. Based on this form, your employer has been forwarding that money to the IRS on your behalf throughout the year. Form W-4 can be changed as needed. The IRS recommends reviewing and updating it from time to time to ensure that the information you initially provided to your employer is still correct. This includes:

Your filing statusThe number of your dependentsTax credits you’re likely to claimTax credits you won’t be able to claim again this year

Did you pick up a side gig to make extra cash during a difficult year? You can request that more taxes be withheld from your paycheck to help cover this income. There’s a special line on Form W-4 for this purpose. You should also update your withholding if you had a big life change in the last year. This could be the case if you:

MarriedDivorcedHad a childHad a child “age out” of dependent status during the tax year

Estimated Quarterly Payments

Are you self-employed, or would you rather not let your employer know about any extra income you may have? You can make estimated quarterly income tax payments. These payments should be based on what you will probably owe on all taxable income at year’s end. If you’re a sole proprietor or independent contractor, you must make estimated payments. Your clients and customers don’t typically withhold taxes from their payments to you. The IRS charges penalties if you don’t do so and come up short at filing time. But other taxpayers are free to pay in this way as well.  These estimated payments are due to the IRS four times a year. Jan. 15, April 15, June 15, and Sept. 15 are the dates that quarterly payments are due every tax year. You can use tax Form 1040-ES to determine and pay your estimated tax payment.

Unemployment Benefits

Although taxpayers received a break on unemployment income that was earned in 2020, there is no such tax break for unemployment income earned in tax year 2021 or tax year 2022. Unemployment benefits are considered to be taxable income and you’ll need to pay federal and potentially state income tax on that money when you file your return. You should receive a Form 1099-G in January detailing how much you received in unemployment benefits. It should also show how much you had withheld for taxes if you arranged for withholding. If you didn’t have taxes withheld from your unemployment compensation, you can also make estimated quarterly payments to help cover the taxes you owe on that income.

Stimulus Checks

The federal government provided stimulus checks to help many Americans during the 2020 coronavirus economic crisis. That money was not taxable income. Officially called “Economic Impact Payments” (EIPs), you might even have received a third stimulus check at the end of 2020 or the very beginning of 2021. That EIP was not included in your gross taxable income.

The Bottom Line

The amount of your income and how you earned that money can change from year to year. It’s important to know how taxes work with that income—whether you have money withheld from paychecks or pay quarterly estimated payments. Whatever you do, take the time to understand your income and how you can plan ahead for tax season so that you’re not surprised with an unexpected tax bill. If you live in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas, mail them to Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 1300 Charlotte, NC 28201-1300. If you live in Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wisconsin, mail them to Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 931100 Louisville, KY 40293-1100. If you live in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming, mail them to Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 802502 Cincinnati, OH 45280-2502.