PPF Calculator

PPF's tax treatment is what makes it stand out among fixed-income options: contributions qualify for an 80C deduction, the interest earned every year is entirely tax-free, and the maturity amount is tax-free too — the "EEE" (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) status. Compare that to a bank FD, where interest is fully taxable at your slab rate — a 30% taxpayer would need a bank FD paying meaningfully more than PPF's headline rate just to match PPF's actual after-tax return.

The trade-off is liquidity. Your money is locked in for 15 years, with only limited partial withdrawals allowed from year 7 onward. That makes PPF a strong fit for long-term goals — retirement, a child's future education — but a poor fit for anything you might need access to sooner. This calculator assumes you contribute the maximum every year for the full term; try lowering the yearly amount or tenure to model a more realistic contribution pattern for your situation.

Contributing the maximum ₹1,50,000 every year for the full 15-year PPF term at the current 7.1% rate produces a maturity value of approximately ₹40,68,209 — of which ₹22,50,000 was actually contributed, and the remaining roughly ₹18,18,209 is tax-free interest.

A bank FD paying a similar headline rate to PPF actually delivers a lower after-tax return for most taxpayers, since FD interest is fully taxable at your slab rate while PPF interest is entirely tax-free — a 30% taxpayer effectively needs an FD paying meaningfully more than PPF's rate just to match PPF's real return.