Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Form 1041-ES lets a trust pay all of its estimated tax at once or in four equal installments, and gives estates the same choice measured from the estate’s tax year. There is a payment the fiduciary can skip by filing Form 1041 early, a next-business-day rule for weekends, and a separate path for farmers and fishermen. The dates below are the 2026 package’s dates for 2026.
Trusts and calendar-year estates
The package says “The trust may pay all of its estimated tax by April 15, 2026, or in four equal installments due by the following dates.” The first installment is April 15, 2026, and the package lists the second and third installments in between. For an estate: “If the estate has adopted a calendar year as its tax year, file using the rules listed under Trusts above.” These are the 2026 package’s dates for 2026 payments. The hub page explains who has to pay at all: Form 1041-ES.
The January 15 payment you may be able to skip
The package gives a tip for the last installment: “The trust doesn’t have to make the payment due on January 15, 2027, if it files the 2026 Form 1041 by January 31, 2027, and pays the entire balance due with the return.” The January date and the filing date are the package’s dates for the 2026 tax year. The return itself is covered on the Form 1041 due date and extension page.
Fiscal-year estates
“If the estate has adopted a fiscal year, it may pay all of its estimated tax by the 15th day of the 4th month of its 2026 tax year”, or “in four equal installments due on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, and 9th months of the 2026 tax year, and the 1st month of the following tax year.” The same early-filing idea applies: “The estate doesn’t have to make the payment due on the 15th day of the 1st month following the close of the fiscal year if it files the 2026 Form 1041 by the last day of the 1st month following the close of the fiscal year, and pays the entire balance due with the return.”
Weekends, holidays and short years
“If any date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the installment is due on the next business day.” For a trust with a short year the package says “see Notice 87-32” for the due dates. If income changes late in the year, “figure the amount of each installment by using the annualized income installment method, as explained in Pub. 505.”
Farmers and fishermen
The package defines the group: “An estate or trust qualifies as a farmer or fisherman (fisher) if at least 2/3 of gross income for 2025 or 2026 is from farming or fishing.” A qualifying estate or trust may “Pay the total estimated tax (line 16 of the 2026 Estimated Tax Worksheet) by January 15, 2027.” The other choice is “File Form 1041 for 2026 by” “March 1, 2027, and pay the total tax due.” For fiscal-year estates, the package says to “pay the total estimated tax by the 15th day of the 1st month following the close of the tax year”, or file Form 1041 and pay the total tax due.
What to enter and where it comes from
There is no dollar figure to enter for a due date. The date a fiduciary uses depends on the estate’s or trust’s tax year, which is shown on the prior return and on the Form 1041 for estates page. The package says the voucher carries the date: “Each payment voucher has the date when the voucher is due for calendar year estates and trusts.”
Where it goes next
Each payment goes with a voucher, explained on the Form 1041-ES payment vouchers page. A payment that is late or short can lead to the penalty explained on the Form 1041-ES penalty and amended payments page. Publication 505 adds that estates “are exempt from paying estimated tax for the first 2 years after the decedent’s death.” The package lists its own exceptions, covered on the Form 1041-ES page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2026 Form 1041-ES package, which the IRS titles “Estimated Income Tax for Estates and Trusts”. It is the current file irs.gov served on 2026-10-18, identical to the archived copy, and the package carries the footer “Created 11/20/2025”. Every date on this page is a date the 2026 package prints for 2026 payments, not a date for any other year. The package works from worksheet line numbers, so check the revision date printed on your own copy and use the line numbers on that revision.
Common mistakes
- Treating the weekend date as the deadline. The package says “the installment is due on the next business day.”
- Skipping the last installment without filing early. The package allows it only if the trust “files the 2026 Form 1041 by January 31, 2027, and pays the entire balance due with the return.”
- Using a farmer date without qualifying. The package asks for “at least 2/3 of gross income for 2025 or 2026 is from farming or fishing.”
Related: Form 1041-ES, Form 1041-ES payment vouchers, estimated tax due dates, and Form 1041 due date and extension.
Sources
- Form 1041-ES, Estimated Income Tax for Estates and Trusts (2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1041es.pdf
- Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax (2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p505.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.