Using the E-file Estimated Payment Wizard in Lacerte

For information on applying the One Big Beautiful Act (OB3) provisions to tax year 2024 estimates see here, check out our Tax topics page on Estimated Tax payments where you'll find answers to the most commonly asked questions.

This article will help you:

• Determine which estimates can be e-filed separately from the tax return
• Verify the electronic payment date
• Transmit estimated tax payments

Disaster area tax relief available:

Filing deadlines and estimated tax due dates may be extended for taxpayers in parts of Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, and IRS for taxpayers living abroad. See here for more details.

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Follow these steps to e-file estimated tax payments:

1. Go to the Client list.
2. Highlight the client(s) whose estimates you want to send.
3. From the E-File menu, select Start e-file Estimated Payments Wizard.
   • If you receive a message that says "Client has no estimated payments that can be e-filed", the client may be able to set up estimates with the filing of their return, but can't transmit them separately. See Which estimates can I e-file? in this article.
4. Under Quarterly Payments, select the payments you wish to transmit, and select Next.
5. Lacerte will check the payments for missing or incorrect information. If successful, the Summary will provide the details of the payment.
6. Select Send E-file Returns Now to transmit the estimates.

If the validation found errors, you will see Error: Diagnostics under Validation. Select the link to see the errors. Once corrected, follow the steps again to validate again.

To see details of the transmission, select View Summary Report. This will only be available if the validation was successful.

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Which estimates can I e-file?

The following state estimates can be filed separately through the e-file Estimated Payments Wizard in Lacerte:

Individual Federal, Arkansas, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon estimates can be sent electronically but they must be sent with the initial filing of the tax return. They are not available to e-file separately.

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How do I check if a client's estimate can be e-filed?

You can use the e-file tax return wizard to quickly show you the status of estimates for any client's return:

• The green check mark indicates that electronic payment of estimates can be transmitted with the tax return, and that this client's estimates will be e-filed when you select Send e-file Returns Now.
• The yellow exclamation point indicates that electronic estimates can be transmitted with the tax return, but this client has not been set up to transmit them electronically. Select Don't Send if you intend to set up electronic estimates for your client. However, if your client doesn't want to pay electronically, no action is needed.
• The red exclamation point warns that estimates can be e-filed, but they must transmitted separately using the Estimated Payments Wizard. You can e-file the tax return without making any changes; however, you must follow the steps above if you intend to pay the estimates electronically.
• NA indicates that estimates don't apply to this return, or that estimates for this return can't be e-filed through Lacerte.
• Dashes -- indicate the return is an LLC. To check if estimates for the LLC can be e-filed, go to the LLC's estimated payment input section.

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How do I set or change the electronic withdrawal date of a payment?

For estimates e-filed separately, Lacerte uses either the payment due date or the payment date override entered for the quarter as the electronic payment date. This means that even if the estimated payment is transmitted today, the withdrawal date will be either the override date entered in the Miscellaneous Info screen or the due date of the quarterly estimated payment if no override has been entered.

For estimates e-filed with the tax return, like 1040-ES payments, the payment due date can't be overridden.

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