PPF Calculator
PPF is one of the few genuinely tax free instruments left: nothing is taxed going in, while it grows, or on the way out. This PPF calculator shows the 15 year maturity amount at the current notified rate, and sets it against a fixed deposit paying a higher headline rate but taxed at your slab.
Where it goes
- What's actually left₹16.98 lakh
- Inflation at 6%−₹23.71 lakh
Worth knowing
Is this really tax-free?
Yes. Contributions, interest and maturity are all exempt — the rare EEE treatment. It is why this beats a fixed deposit paying a higher headline rate, once you are in the 30% slab.
Why does this not ask for my income tax slab?
Because nothing here is taxed, at any stage, whatever you earn. Your slab decides the tax on things like deposit interest — there is none to decide here.
Where does the rate come from?
2026-Q2's notified rate. The government resets small-savings rates every quarter, so this is not fixed for the life of the account.
Compared with everything elseShow the tableHide
Over 15 years, Equity mutual fund keeps the most — +5.41% a year in real terms.
₹1.50 lakh a year into each, for 15 years, on ₹15.00 lakh of other income — a 15.6% rate on interest — and 6% inflation. The return is what you actually keep, after tax and after inflation.
| Where | Rate | Tax | You’d have | Real return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity mutual fund | 12.00% | Capital gains | ₹25.54 lakh | +5.41% |
| PPF | 7.10% | Completely tax-free | ₹16.98 lakh | +1.03% |
| NSC | 7.70% | Taxed at your slab | ₹16.32 lakh | +0.35% |
| Fixed deposit | 7.10% | Taxed at your slab | ₹15.69 lakh | +0.03% |
| Sukanya SamriddhiLocks your money in for 21 years | 8.20% | Completely tax-free | — | — |
Over 15 years, Equity mutual fund keeps the most — +5.41% a year in real terms — which is a different order from the one the headline rates suggest, because tax and lock-in do most of the deciding.
Understanding this calculator
PPF is unusual enough to be worth understanding precisely: it is one of the very few genuinely tax-free instruments left in India, and its rate is set by the government rather than by a market.
Exempt at all three stages
Most investments are taxed at least once. PPF is taxed at none of the three points where tax normally applies — the contribution is deductible under the old regime, the interest accrues untaxed, and the maturity amount is received untaxed.
That is what makes a comparison by headline rate misleading. At a 30% slab a 7.1% PPF outperforms a 7.5% fixed deposit, because the deposit's 7.5% is 5.16% after tax and PPF's 7.1% is 7.1%.
The rate is reset every quarter
PPF does not carry a fixed rate for fifteen years. The government notifies a rate each quarter, and the whole balance earns whatever the current rate is. A calculation run at today's rate assumes that rate persists, which is an assumption rather than a feature of the product.
Fifteen years, and what happens after
The lock-in is the price of the exemption, and it is genuine — this is not money to hold against an emergency. Partial withdrawal becomes available from the seventh year and a loan facility earlier, both with conditions.
At maturity the account can be extended in blocks of five years, with or without further contributions, and it keeps earning tax-free throughout. An extended PPF account is one of the few places a retired person can hold money at a reasonable rate with no tax at all.
The statutory contribution ceiling is ₹1.5 lakh a financial year, and it is a hard limit rather than a slider bound — money above it earns no interest.
Related calculators
Tax rules applied as of 2026-Q2, last verified against official sources on 2026-08-23. This product locks your money in for 15 years. This calculator does arithmetic on the figures you enter — it is not investment advice, not a recommendation, and not a forecast. All calculators