NSC Calculator (National Savings Certificate)

How to use this NSC calculator

1. Enter the amount you will invest. The minimum is ₹1,000, then multiples of ₹100, with no maximum.
2. Check the interest rate. It starts at 7.7%, the rate for October–December 2026. For a certificate you already hold, enter the rate from when you bought it.
3. Open "More options" to add tax. Choose the old or new regime and your slab. In the old regime, also enter the room left in your ₹1.5 lakh limit.

The result shows the maturity value, the total interest and the part of it treated as reinvested, with a table of the interest for each of the 5 years. All of it is an estimate for your own planning: the tax figures use your slab rate plus 4% cess, and your actual tax depends on the rest of your income.

How NSC interest works

The National Savings Certificate (VIII Issue) is a 5-year government savings certificate sold at post offices. Interest is compounded once a year, but you receive nothing along the way: the interest stays in the certificate and is paid with your deposit at maturity. The rate on the day you buy is fixed for all 5 years, whatever happens to the rate for new certificates.

NSC interest year by year

On ₹1,00,000 at 7.7%, using the scheme's interest table:

NSC maturity value by amount

At 7.7% for 5 years:

How NSC interest counts towards the ₹1.5 lakh limit

Under the old regime, the amount you invest in NSC counts towards the ₹1.5 lakh yearly limit for tax-saving investments in the year you buy. The accrued interest can count too. The scheme says the interest of each year up to the fourth is "deemed to have been reinvested" on your behalf. Each of those years you are treated as having made a new investment equal to that year's interest, so you can add it to your limit for that year. The fifth year's interest is different: nothing is reinvested, because the certificate has matured and pays out.

Take ₹1,50,000 at 7.7%. The deposit uses the whole limit in the year you buy. In the next four years, ₹11,550, ₹12,440, ₹13,397 and ₹14,429 of interest can count if you have room. That is ₹2,01,815 claimed over the years. At the 30% slab plus cess it saves about ₹62,966, against about ₹21,015 of tax on all the interest.

Three things to keep in mind:

• The limit is shared. EPF, PPF, life insurance premiums, home loan principal and the rest all use the same ₹1.5 lakh. If your EPF already fills it, the interest adds nothing. With only ₹50,000 of room a year, the same ₹1,50,000 certificate would save about ₹31,766.
• The interest is income as well. If you claim a year's interest as reinvested, show the same amount as interest income for that year. The deduction then offsets the tax on it, as long as you have room in the limit.
• The wording matters. The Income-tax Act, 2025 lists notified savings certificates but does not mention NSC interest by name. The treatment rests on the scheme's wording, and a 1989 circular of the Central Board of Direct Taxes treated an earlier NSC issue the same way. Ask the post office for a certificate of each year's interest, and check with your tax adviser if the amount matters to you.

How NSC is taxed

Without the deduction, tax cuts the return noticeably. On ₹1,00,000 in the new regime, the ₹44,903 of interest leaves about ₹35,563 at the 20% slab, or about 6.27% a year after tax, and about ₹30,893 at the 30% slab, or about 5.53% a year. Compare your regimes with the income tax calculator.

Closing an NSC before 5 years

You cannot cash in an NSC early simply because you want the money. It can be closed before maturity only on the death of a holder, on forfeiture by a pledgee who is a gazetted officer, or by court order. What you then receive depends on how long you held it:

From 3 years, these amounts work out to 6.7% a year compounded, one percentage point below the 7.7% you earn by holding to maturity. These tables apply to certificates bought on or after 1 April 2023.

NSC rules

• Who can buy: an adult, a guardian for a minor or a person of unsound mind, a minor aged 10 or over, or up to three adults jointly.
• Where: at any post office, or through post office internet banking.
• Amount: at least ₹1,000, in multiples of ₹100, with no maximum and any number of certificates.
• Term: 5 years from the date of deposit.
• Loans: you can pledge the certificate to a bank as security for a loan.
• After maturity: money left in earns only the Post Office Savings Account rate, 4% at present, so collect it on time.
• On death: the nominee or legal heir can take the money, or continue the certificate to maturity.

NSC, KVP or PPF?

All three are government savings schemes with fixed rates, but they suit different needs. A Kisan Vikas Patra pays a little less, has no tax deduction and lasts longer, but you can leave after two and a half years. A PPF account pays less but its interest is tax-free. Sukanya Samriddhi interest is tax-free too, for a daughter's future. If you want income rather than growth, the Post Office Monthly Income Scheme pays every month. To compare with a bank, use the FD calculator.

This calculator gives estimates for education and planning. It is not financial advice, and your lender's figures may differ. See how we calculate.