Who Must Make Estimated Tax Payments If you had a tax liability for 2001, you may have to pay estimated tax for 2002. Generally, you must make estimated tax payments for 2002 if you expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for 2002 after subtracting your withholding and credits, and you expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of: 90% of the tax to be shown on your 2002 tax return, or 100% of the tax shown on your 2001 tax return. The 2001 tax return must cover all 12 months. If all of your income will be subject to income tax withholding, you probably do not need to make estimated tax payments. For more information on estimated tax, see Publication 505.