NJ Estimated Tax Payments: 2027 Due Dates and How to Pay Online

Who has to make New Jersey estimated tax payments

The test is the same for everyone: if you expect to owe more than $400 in New Jersey Income Tax when you file, after subtracting withholding and other credits, you must make estimated payments. It applies whether you live in New Jersey or only earn income here, and to certain estates and trusts.

The $400 line sits well below the federal one. The IRS's 2026 Form 1040-ES generally starts at $1,000 of tax owed, and the Division's GIT-8 bulletin says outright that you may have to make New Jersey estimated payments even if you do not have to make federal ones. So a sole proprietor, freelancer, landlord or investor whose income has no withholding should check the New Jersey number on its own.

• Retirees: tax is not withheld from a pension unless you ask. Form NJ-W-4P asks the payer to start or raise withholding, which can replace estimated payments.
• If you stop needing estimates, the GIT-8 bulletin says you do not have to tell the Division, even if it mailed you a packet of vouchers.
• Estimated payments are not a payment plan. The NJ-1040-ES instructions say not to use the voucher for balances from earlier years.

NJ estimated tax due dates for 2026 and 2027

New Jersey divides the year into four payment periods. The Division's rule is that when a due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the payment is due the next business day. The 2026 dates below are printed in the 2026 NJ-1040-ES instructions. The 2027 dates follow the Division's standing schedule; the 2027 vouchers were not yet published when this page was checked, so confirm the January 2028 date on them.

• You can skip the January 15, 2027 payment if you file your 2026 New Jersey return by February 15, 2027 and pay the whole balance with it. The federal version of that rule uses February 1, 2027.
• If your income changes partway through 2026, the instructions set when the first payment is due: by June 15, 2026 for a change after April 1 and before June 2; by September 15, 2026 for a change after June 1 and before September 2; and by January 15, 2027 for a change after September 1.
• A late installment does not move the due dates of the ones after it.
• Fiscal-year filers pay on the 15th day of the fourth, sixth and ninth months of their fiscal year and the first month after it ends.

How to pay NJ estimated taxes online, by mail or by card

The Division's Payments and Notices page lists making an estimated tax payment under “Option A – Make a Payment,” which opens the individual income tax login. You need the Social Security number and date of birth of the first person listed on your New Jersey return; estates and trusts use their federal employer identification number. From there you choose an e-check, which draws the money straight from your bank account and can be scheduled in advance, or a credit card.

One group cannot pay online yet. The same page says first-time paper filers are required to mail in a payment, so someone who has never filed a New Jersey return sends a check with the voucher for the first payment.

• Paying jointly: list both Social Security numbers in the same order as the names on the voucher. The first number should match the first one on your New Jersey return.
• If you filed jointly last year but file alone or with someone else this year, GIT-8 says not to use the preprinted vouchers.
• Spouses who pay jointly but file separately can split the payments between them, according to GIT-8.

How much to pay: the 80% / 100% rule, with a worked example

The NJ-1040-ES worksheet starts from your expected income for the year, subtracts exemptions and deductions, applies the tax rate tables, then subtracts withholding and credits. If what is left is more than $400, that is your estimated tax, split into four equal payments.

To stay clear of interest, the instructions for Form NJ-2210 say your payments and withholding should reach at least 80% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's, provided last year's New Jersey return covered a full 12 months. Last year's figure is often the easier target, because it is already printed on your return.

A worked example, using the 2026 rate table for single filers (our arithmetic, not a quote): a freelancer expects $80,000 of New Jersey taxable income and no withholding. The table gives $80,000 × 6.37% − $2,126.25 = $2,969.75 of tax. Four equal payments are $742.44 each. If her 2025 New Jersey tax was $2,400, paying $600 on each date also protects her from interest, even though she will owe the remaining $569.75 when she files.

A second example, for a married couple filing jointly (the 2026 joint rate table, our arithmetic, not a quote): they expect $120,000 of New Jersey taxable income, and $2,000 of New Jersey tax is withheld from one spouse's paychecks. The joint table gives $120,000 × 5.525% − $2,775.00 = $3,855.00 of tax. After withholding, $1,855.00 is left, which is more than $400, so estimates are required: four payments of $463.75 cover it. To avoid interest they only need withholding plus estimates to reach the smaller target: 80% of $3,855.00 is $3,084.00, and if their 2025 New Jersey tax was $3,400, 100% of that is $3,400. The smaller is $3,084.00, so $1,084.00 of estimates ($271.00 a quarter) avoids interest, and the rest is paid with the return.

• Married couples filing jointly, heads of household and qualifying widow(er)s use a second table on the same page, with brackets at $20,000, $50,000, $70,000, $80,000, $150,000, $500,000 and $1,000,000 and the same 1.4% to 10.75% range.
• Exemptions on the worksheet include $1,000 for you (and a spouse filing jointly), another $1,000 each at 65 or older, $6,000 each for an honorably discharged veteran, and $1,500 per dependent.
• At 62 or older you may be able to exclude pension and other retirement income, the instructions say, if your income is $150,000 or less.
• If your estimate changes during the year, the Amended Calculation Schedule on page 3 refigures the remaining payments.

Both 2026 rate tables, what counts as New Jersey taxable income and worked examples at six incomes are in the NJ income tax brackets guide.

What happens if you pay too little or too late: interest and Form NJ-2210

For underpaid estimates, the Division's pages mostly describe the charge as interest; its notice on the 110% rule says “penalties and interest.” Its page on interest says that if the balance due with your return is more than $400 and you did not make the required payments, you may be charged interest “even if you pay all the tax due by the return due date.” The rate is 3% above the prime rate. Technical Bulletin TB-21(R), issued December 1, 2025, sets it at 10.00% for 2026: prime of 7.00% plus 3%.

Interest runs from each payment's due date to the day you paid it, but GIT-8 says only up to April 15. Form NJ-2210 (NJ-2210NR for nonresidents) works out whether you owe it and how much. If you would rather not do the math, GIT-8 says the Division will figure the interest and send you a bill.

As a rough illustration (our arithmetic, not the form): a $1,000 shortfall left unpaid for three months at 10.00% a year comes to about $25. The form, which charges for each month or part of a month, gives the exact figure.

• Does the 110% rule apply in New Jersey? The statute names a 110% safe harbor for taxable gross income over $150,000 ($75,000 married filing separately). The Division's notice says it only charges interest on the gap between what you paid and the smaller of 100% of last year's tax or 80% of this year's.
• On the 2025 forms, the latest published, the interest goes on line 52 of the NJ-1040, with the oval filled in and the NJ-2210 enclosed.
• There is no extension of time to pay: the Division's “When to File and Pay” page says an extension covers filing the return only.
• Filing or paying the return itself late is a separate charge. The Division's “Penalties, Interest, and Collection Fees” page says the Late Filing Penalty is 5% of the tax due for each month (or part of a month) the return is late, up to 25% of the balance due, plus a possible $100 for each month; a Late Payment Penalty of 5% of the tax due may be added on top of interest. If you can show reasonable cause, the Division may waive part or all of a penalty on request.

New Jersey vs federal estimated tax: the differences that trip people up

Most people who owe New Jersey estimates also owe federal ones, and the two sets of rules look alike until you put them side by side. Each figure below comes from the 2026 NJ-1040-ES instructions, the 2025 NJ-2210 instructions or the IRS's 2026 Form 1040-ES.

This page does not project federal tax. For the federal payments, the IRS's 2026 Form 1040-ES has its own 2026 Estimated Tax Worksheet and instructions. Its general rule is the one in the table: payments are needed if you expect to owe at least $1,000, and you avoid the penalty by paying the smaller of 90% of your 2026 tax or 100% of your 2025 tax (110% if your 2025 adjusted gross income was over $150,000).

How these payments fit into the rest of year-end planning, including the federal 110% rule, is in the tax planning services guide.

Business owners, property sellers and when to bring in a CPA

If your partnership or S corporation elected New Jersey's BAIT, the entity makes its own quarterly payments, separate from yours. Your share of the BAIT credit still counts toward your personal estimates: the NJ-1040-ES instructions list the Pass-Through Business Alternative Income Tax Credit among the credits you subtract, and Form NJ-2210 counts it with withholding.

Selling New Jersey property and moving out of state is a different estimated payment, made at closing. The Division's Estimated Payments page points nonresident sellers to those rules.

A CPA is worth considering when income swings during the year, when you own part of a business, or when you are choosing between the 80% and 100% targets. Whoever you hire, check the license in New Jersey's own record first.

Entity-level estimated payments, the PTE-150 voucher and the credit are covered in the NJ BAIT tax guide.

The 2% minimum payment at a nonresident's closing, and how to get it back, are in the NJ exit tax guide.

Hourly and monthly fee survey figures for tax work are in the CPA cost guide.

Questions to ask before acting.