Individual Income Tax
Estimated Tax Payments
- Am I required to make estimated tax payments?
- When is underpayment interest assessed?
- Can I verify estimated tax payments for individuals and corporations?
- Is the taxability of social security benefits changing for the tax year 2008?
Am I required to make estimated tax payments?
You are generally required to make quarterly estimated income tax payments if you expect your Wisconsin income tax return to show a balance due of $200 or more. The estimated tax requirement applies to full-year residents, part-year residents, and nonresidents. An interest charge may be imposed if you fail to make these payments. For more information about estimated tax payments and how to make them, please see the Wisconsin Form 1-ES instructions or Form 1ES.
When is underpayment interest assessed?
You may be assessed underpayment interest if you haven't had sufficient state withholding taken out of your income when earned or you haven't made the required quarterly estimated tax payments. Estimated tax payments are generally required if you expect your Wisconsin income tax return to show a balance due of $200 or more.
You will not owe underpayment interest if your 2006 tax return was for a tax year of 12 full months (or would have been if you had been required to file) and either of the following applies:
- You had no tax liability for 2006 and you were a Wisconsin resident for all of 2006, or
- The amount on lines 40 and 41 of your 2007 return are at least as much as the tax shown on your 2006 return. Your estimated tax payments for 2007 must have been made on time and for the required amount.
For more information about underpayment interest, see Wisconsin Schedule U, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals and Fiduciaries, and its instructions.
- Can I verify estimated tax payments for individuals and corporations?
Yes, an online service is available at https://ww2.revenue.wi.gov/PaymentInquiry/application. This service allows individuals, corporations, and practitioners to verify estimated tax payments when completing a tax return. It will only display available payment amounts, so that the correct payment total can be entered on the return.
In addition, credit carry forwards, extension payments, W-200 payments (pre-payments of tax), and WT-11 payments (nonresident entertainer deposits) may be looked up to determine if they are available to be claimed on a return that has yet to be processed by the department.
How the Estimated Payment Verfication Works:
An individual, corporation, or practitioner must first authenticate themselves by providing the Social Security Number (SSN), Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), or Wisconsin Tax Number (WTN) of the individual or corporation for whom they wish to look up payments. In addition, the amount of one of the last three payments made or the amount of the Wisconsin income from the prior year's return must be entered.
If authenticating using the income option, one of the following lines from a prior year's return must be used:
- Form 1, line 13 (Individual Income)
- Form 1A, line 11 (Individual Income)
- Form WIZ, line 1 (Individual Income)
- Form 1X, line 1 (Individual Income)
- Form 1NPR, line 32 (Individual Income)
- Form 2, line 5 (Corporation)
- Form 4, line 13 (Corporation)
- Form 4I, line 17 (Corporation)
- Form 4T, Line 3 (Corporation)
- Form 5, Line 7 (Corporation)
- Form 5S, Line 3 (Corporation)
When looking up estimated payments for a married couple, either SSN can be used. However, it is necessary to check under both numbers in case the payment was made under only one spouse's SSN.
Once a taxpayer or practitioner successfully authenticates themselves, estimated payments that have not been claimed on a processed return will be displayed.
If you have any questions, please contact the department at (608) 266-2772 for individual income tax or (608) 266-0800 for corporation franchise or income tax.
- Is the taxability of social security benefits changing for the tax year 2008?
Effective for taxable years beginning in 2008, social security benefits will no longer be taxable for Wisconsin income tax purposes. This will be reflected on the 2008 Wisconsin income tax forms.
For federal income tax purposes, up to 85 percent of social security benefits may be taxable. Prior to 2008, if social security benefits were taxable on an individual’s federal income tax return, the social security benefits were also taxable on the individual’s Wisconsin income tax return. However, Wisconsin did not tax more than 50 percent of the benefits.
Individuals who previously had taxable social security benefits and make Wisconsin estimated tax payments may want to adjust their 2008 estimated tax payments to account for the fact that their social security benefits will not be taxed. Form 1-ES is used to make estimated tax payments. A worksheet is included in the 2008 Form 1-ES instructions for estimating 2008 taxable income. The Form 1-ES and instructions are available from the department’s website at www.revenue.wi.gov/html/08forms.html.
Note: Even though social security benefits will not be taxable for income tax purposes, they must still be included in household income for homestead credit.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
Customer Service Bureau
P.O. Box 8949
Madison, WI 53708-8949
Phone: (608) 266-2486
Fax: (608) 267-1030
E-Mail Additional Questions
Last updated April 2, 2008