Vermont Estimated Tax Payments: Due Dates, Amounts, and Penalties

If you earn Vermont income that isn’t subject to withholding, you generally have to make Vermont estimated tax payments in four installments across the year: April 15, June 15, September 15, and the following January 15. The rule applies when you expect to owe more than $500 in Vermont income tax after subtracting withholding and credits.¹ Skip a quarter or send too little, and interest and penalty start running at a combined 1.5 percent per month.²

Who Has to Pay

The requirement covers residents, part-year residents, and nonresidents with Vermont-source income, and it reaches individuals, estates, and trusts.¹ The threshold question is simple: will you owe more than $500 to Vermont after withholding and credits? If yes, you owe quarterly estimates.

The income types most likely to trigger the obligation are the ones that arrive without a Vermont withholding line: self-employment and freelance earnings, profits from a sole proprietorship or pass-through entity, rental income, interest, dividends, capital gains, and retirement account distributions where you haven’t elected voluntary withholding. Wage earners with proper Vermont withholding usually don’t need to make estimates, because the employer is already handling pay-as-you-go for them.

Quarterly Due Dates

Vermont uses the standard calendar-year schedule:

First quarter (January–March): April 15
Second quarter (April–June): June 15
Third quarter (July–September): September 15
Fourth quarter (October–December): January 15 of the following year

For the 2026 tax year, payments are due April 15, June 15, and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027.³ When a due date lands on a weekend or legal holiday, it shifts to the next business day. If you file on a fiscal year rather than a calendar year, the dates become the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th months of your fiscal cycle.¹

How Much to Send Each Quarter

Each installment should equal 25 percent of your required annual payment.¹ To avoid underpayment interest, your payments plus any withholding by each deadline need to equal or exceed the lesser of two amounts:

100 percent of the total Vermont tax shown on last year’s return, or
90 percent of the tax you’ll actually owe for the current year.⁴

The prior-year number is the easier target because it’s already fixed on your last return. Divide it by four and pay that each quarter, and you’re protected from underpayment interest even if this year turns out much bigger. The 90-percent-of-current-year figure is more useful when your income has dropped, because it lets you pay less each quarter without penalty.

If Your Income Is Uneven

The standard split assumes income arrives steadily across the year, which doesn’t fit seasonal businesses, commission income, or a one-time capital gain. Vermont lets you use the annualized income installment method instead. You annualize the income you actually earned through each quarterly cutoff, compute the tax on that projected figure, and pay the corresponding fraction. A slow first quarter produces a small April payment; a strong fourth quarter produces a larger January payment.³

If you use this method, attach a completed copy of federal Form 2210 and Vermont Form IN-152A (Annualized Income Installment Method for Underpayment of Estimated Individual Income Tax) with your annual return.³

How to Pay

The fastest route is myVTax, the Department of Taxes online portal. Log in, select the estimated tax option for the correct tax year, and pay by ACH debit from a bank account at no cost, or by credit card with a 3 percent convenience fee.³ On a $2,000 payment the fee runs $60, so bank transfer is usually the better choice. Save the confirmation receipt.⁵

You can also mail a check or money order with Form IN-114 (Individual Income Estimated Tax Payment Voucher) to the Vermont Department of Taxes at PO Box 1779, Montpelier, VT 05601-1779. Write your Social Security number and the tax year on the check. A payment sent without the voucher can be misdirected, which may trigger late-payment penalties even though you sent the money on time.³⁶

What Underpayment Costs

Miss a quarter or pay too little and two charges start running side by side: interest at 0.5 percent per month and a penalty at 1 percent per month, both applied to the underpaid amount from the payment due date until you pay it in full.² Combined, that’s 1.5 percent a month, roughly 18 percent annualized. A $3,000 shortfall from an April deadline runs about $45 per month.

The safe harbor above is the main defense. If your payments and withholding by each deadline hit either the 100-percent-prior-year or 90-percent-current-year mark, underpayment interest doesn’t apply no matter what your final balance looks like at filing.⁴ Vermont does not offer a broad “reasonable cause” waiver for estimated tax underpayment, so the safe harbor calculation carries more weight than in states with looser relief.

Farmers and Fishermen

If at least two-thirds of your gross income comes from farming or fishing, you’re outside the standard quarterly schedule.¹ You can make a single estimated payment by January 15 following the tax year and file your return on the regular date. Or skip estimates entirely by filing your return and paying the full balance by March 1.⁷ You can meet the two-thirds test using either the current or the preceding tax year, so a single off year doesn’t automatically disqualify you.

If You Overpay

When your estimated payments and withholding exceed what you actually owe, you have a choice on Form IN-111 (Vermont Income Tax Return). Take the difference as a refund, or apply it as a credit toward next year’s first quarterly installment. Applying it forward is practical if next year’s income looks similar, because it lowers what you need to send in April. You have three years from the return’s original due date to claim a refund of overpaid estimated tax.

1
Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 32-5852 – Payment of Estimated Income Tax
2
Vermont Department of Taxes. Calculate Interest and Penalties
3
Vermont Department of Taxes. Estimated Income Tax
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Vermont General Assembly. Vermont Code 32-5859 – Assessment Date, Penalties, Interest
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Vermont Department of Taxes. Paying Tax Owed
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Vermont Department of Taxes. File and Pay By Mail
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Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 416, Farming and Fishing Income