NSC Calculator

About the NSC Calculator

A National Savings Certificate (VIII Issue) is a 5-year post office deposit with a fixed rate. The interest is added to the certificate at the end of every year and the whole amount is paid at maturity. This calculator works out the maturity value and, year by year, the interest that accrues — the figures you need for your tax return.

Enter the purchase date and the calculator takes the rate that applied then from the National Savings Institute’s table (7.7% for certificates bought from 1 April 2023). It uses the scheme’s own interest table, rounds the maturity value to the rupee as the post office does, and marks the interest of years 1–4, which the scheme treats as reinvested and which can be claimed under section 123 in the old tax regime.

How NSC interest works

From the National Savings Certificates (VIII Issue) Scheme, 2019:

• Deposit (para 4): at least ₹1,000, then any amount in multiples of ₹100. There is no upper limit, and you can hold any number of certificates.
• Term (para 5(1)): the certificate matures 5 years from the date of deposit. A “year” is 12 months from that date (para 2(f)), not a financial year.
• Interest (para 5(3)): it accrues at the end of each year, compounding yearly. The interest of years 1 to 4 is deemed to be reinvested and added to the certificate; the fifth year’s interest is paid with the maturity value.
• Maturity value (para 5(2A)): proportionate to the value of a ₹1,000 certificate, rounded to the nearest rupee — ₹1,449.03 per ₹1,000 at 7.7%.

Certificates bought before 12 December 2019 fall under the NSC Rules, 1989, whose tables are written for ₹100 certificates. Those bought from 1 December 2011 to 31 March 2016 compounded interest every half-year (rules 15(6A)–(6C)); the calculator switches automatically.

The rate on your purchase date

The rate is fixed for the whole 5 years by the date you buy, so a later rate change does not affect a certificate you already hold. From the NSI rate history:

• 1 April 2023 onwards: 7.7%.
• 1 January – 31 March 2023: 7.0%.
• 1 April 2020 – 31 December 2022: 6.8%.
• 1 July 2019 – 31 March 2020: 7.9%.
• 1 October 2018 – 30 June 2019: 8.0%; 1 January – 30 September 2018: 7.6%; July–December 2017: 7.8%; April–June 2017: 7.9%; October 2016 – March 2017: 8.0%; April–September 2016: 8.1%.
• April 2013 – March 2016: 8.5%; April 2012 – March 2013: 8.6%; December 2011 – March 2012: 8.4%.

The government sets small-savings rates every quarter. For a purchase date after the last quarter in the table the calculator uses 7.7% and says so — check the rate before you buy.

Tax: the deduction and the interest

Under the Income-tax Act, 2025:

• Deduction: buying NSC counts towards the ₹1,50,000 limit of section 123 (Schedule XV, para 1(i)). Because the interest of years 1–4 is deemed reinvested in the certificate, it is treated as a fresh subscription in the year it accrues and can be claimed too. The ₹1.5 lakh covers all Schedule XV items together — PPF, EPF, life insurance and so on.
• Old regime only: the default new regime under section 202 allows no Chapter VIII deductions (section 202(2)(a)(xii)), so section 123 does not apply there.
• The interest is taxable as income from other sources in both regimes. You can report it each year as it accrues — the table shows the tax year in which each certificate year ends — or all of it when you are paid at maturity, provided you follow that method consistently (section 276(1)).

In the old regime, claiming the reinvested interest under section 123 cancels the tax on it if you have room under the limit, so only the fifth year’s interest then costs tax.

Tax years up to 2025-26 fell under the Income-tax Act, 1961, where the same deduction was section 80C (₹1.5 lakh from 2014-15, ₹1 lakh before). For a certificate bought before April 2026, the table names the section for each year.

Before and after maturity

• Early closure is allowed only on the death of a holder, on forfeiture by a pledgee who is a gazetted officer, or by court order (scheme para 7). Closed within a year, only the deposit is repaid; between one and three years, interest at the Post Office Savings Account rate for complete months; after three years, a value from the scheme’s table.
• Pledging: a certificate can be pledged as security for a loan with a bank or other listed institutions (para 6).
• After maturity: a matured certificate that is not cashed earns only the Post Office Savings Account rate, 4% a year now, until you close it (General Rules 2018, rule 9(6)).

Limitations

• The rate is looked up from the NSI rate history and India Post. For a purchase date after the last quarter they list, the calculator uses the latest rate and says so — check the rate for that quarter.
• Interest is shown to the paisa from the scheme’s table; your accrual certificate should match, though rounding can differ by a rupee.
• The tax estimate is your slab rate plus 4% cess on the interest. It ignores surcharge, the section 156 rebate and how much of the ₹1.5 lakh limit you have already used.
• Early closure values (allowed only on death, court order or pledge forfeiture) are described, not calculated.
• Certificates bought before 1 December 2011 had a 6-year term and are not covered; all of them have matured.

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