problem with sudden windfall

In article <rravv8$3e2$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me you write:

Maybe, but it doesn't matter. They can pay the income to you, you pay the required estimated tax to the IRS on Jan 15 by sending the IRS a check, and you're OK.

When you file your taxes you may have to include form 2210 to show that you had a lot of income in the fourth quarter matched by a tax payment, but that is not hard to do.

If your state has an income tax you do the same thing for them if they even care about the timing of estimated tax payments.

I don't know if they'll withhold taxes - that's not something they normally do as far as I'm aware.

But I imagine it would be simpler if you just send money in as an estimated tax payment, with Form 1040-ES. It's due January 15. You can find the form and instructions here:

I'd use

Easy to use, no forms to bother with. I've used this many years for a similar situation, when a year end transaction might have me owe too much.

Not enough information provided. For instance, if your existing withholdings and estimated payments by December 31 are more than your tax liability for 2019 (or 110% if your 2019 AGI was more than $150K), you don't need to make any additional tax payments before April 15.

Ira Smilovitz, EA Leonia, NJ

True. I read the question as "best/fastest/easiest way to get money to the IRS to make direct payment towards my 2020 tax burden." I did not address the calculation of whether such a payment is even required. (Personal anecdote, the "estimated payments by December 31 are more than your tax liability for 2019" was exactly why for my 2019 return, while I owed a huge amount, no issue paying it along with the return due in July (July, right?). Again, a complete answer, as you noted, addresses whether the extra payment is needed to avoid any penalty.

And a complete complete answer would address whether any resulting penalty is even large enough to worry about addressing before filing your regular

2020 return.

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UPDATE. HERE'S What I did. I took the gain in mid-December (good thing, too). I needed X more withheld. So, I took X out of a Roth IRA and withheld all of it. Works great. (Retirement funds are in good shape so no problem there).

Mel