Quarterly Tax Rhythm Skill

Employment hides taxes inside withholding; self-employment hands you the gross and a delayed bill — and the first-year story is always the same: the money felt like income, got spent like income, and April arrived like a mugging. The fix isn't tax expertise; it's a rhythm: a fixed percentage siphoned to a separate account the day money lands, dated quarterly check-ins (most jurisdictions with estimated-payment systems run roughly quarterly — dates and rules are local, flagged throughout), and a records habit small enough to actually survive. This skill installs the rhythm and routes every actual number to a local professional, because rates and rules are jurisdiction-specific and this skill's job is that the money exists when the professional names the number.

What This Skill Produces

• The setaside rule — the percentage band with its logic, the transfer-on-receipt habit, and the separate account it lands in
• The quarterly calendar — the rhythm's four-plus-one dates (typed generically, verify-locally), each with its 30-minute agenda
• The records system — the five-minute weekly habit that makes filing an export instead of an archaeology dig
• The deduction-tracking frame — what commonly counts (typed, professional-verified), captured at spend-time not filing-time

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The income shape — rough monthly side income and trajectory; steady vs. lumpy changes the setaside mechanics (lumpy = percentage-per-payment, never a monthly guess)
• The tax context, loosely — country and whether this stacks on employed income (the marginal-stacking point is where most first-year surprises live: side income generally lands on top, taxed at the margin — stated as framing, numbers routed locally)
• What exists today — separate account? Any setaside so far? Mid-year starts get the catch-up framing, calmly
• The professional status — accountant engaged? The skill's endpoint is a clean handoff to one, and it says so