PPF calculator

Source: Public Provident Fund Scheme, 2019 (Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs) and Ministry quarterly rate notifications.

• Eligibility: Resident individuals (including minors via a guardian). NRIs cannot open a new PPF account; existing accounts continue till maturity but cannot be extended.
• Contribution: ₹500 minimum, ₹1,50,000 maximum per FY across ALL PPF accounts the depositor holds. Multiple deposits allowed in a year.
• Lock-in: 15 years from the end of the FY in which the account was opened. Extendable in 5-year blocks (with or without fresh contributions).
• Interest rate: 7.1% p.a. as on FY 2025-26 (rate declared every quarter; last revised April 2020).
• Tax treatment: EEE. Contribution deductible under 80C in old regime (no 80C in new regime). Interest exempt under Section 10(11). Maturity tax-free in both regimes.

Interest is computed on the LOWEST balance in the account between the 5th and the last day of each month, summed across 12 months, and credited on 31 March.

If you deposit your entire ₹1,50,000 on or before 5 April, the year-end balance is treated as having earned a full 12 months of interest. The simplified end-of-year recursion is:

year_end = (prev_year_end + 150000) × 1.071

Worked example. ₹1,50,000 deposited every year on 5 April, at 7.1% for the full 15-year base tenure:

• Year 1 close: ₹1,60,650
• Year 5 close: ₹9,28,490
• Year 10 close: ₹22,17,030
• Year 15 close: ₹40,68,209

Total invested ₹22,50,000; total interest ₹18,18,209. The compounding makes the second half of the tenure carry most of the absolute interest growth.

Because interest uses the lowest-balance-between-5th-and-end-of-month rule, a deposit made on the 6th of any month earns ZERO interest for that month. Over a 15-year tenure with monthly ₹12,500 SIPs deposited mid-month, this can cost you about ₹2,00,000 in lost interest compared to a single early-April lump sum.

Best practice:

• If you have the cash, deposit the entire ₹1.5L on or before 5 April. Maximum interest.
• If you must spread it across the year (e.g. salary-linked SIP), set the SIP date to the 1st of each month so the deposit is already in by the 5th.
• Never deposit on the 6th–10th of a month — you lose that month's interest on that deposit.

Loan: available between years 3 and 6, capped at 25% of the balance at the end of year 2. Loan interest is 1% over the prevailing PPF rate, repayable within 36 months.

Partial withdrawal: allowed from year 7 onwards, capped at 50% of the balance at the end of the 4th preceding year (or immediately preceding year, whichever is lower).

Premature closure: allowed only after 5 years for specific reasons — life-threatening illness of self / spouse / dependent children / parents; higher education of self or dependent children; change in residency status to NRI. Carries a 1% interest penalty on the entire tenure.

Maturity options: at the end of 15 years you can withdraw the entire corpus, extend for 5 years with fresh contributions, or extend for 5 years without contributions (corpus continues earning interest, partial withdrawals allowed once per FY).

Educational only — not financial or tax advice. Talk to a SEBI-registered investment adviser or your CA.

Use this tool for quick planning, comparison, and what-if finance scenarios. Use official calculators, a qualified adviser, or source documents before filing taxes, signing contracts, or making irreversible money decisions.

1. Enter contribution + rate — Annual deposit between ₹500 and ₹1,50,000 (statutory cap). Default rate is 7.1% — the Ministry of Finance rate for FY 2024-25 / 2025-26. Override if modelling a historical or hypothetical rate.
2. Pick the tenure — 15 years is the base lock-in. Extend in 5-year blocks (20, 25, 30) to see what compounding adds beyond the mandatory tenure.
3. Read maturity + year breakdown — Maturity value, total invested and tax-free interest. The year-by-year table shows how the corpus compounds — the second half of the tenure carries most of the absolute interest growth.

• Confirm rates, compounding frequency, tax year, dates, and rounding before acting on the result.
• Fees, penalties, inflation, and local rules can make real outcomes differ from simple formulas.
• Treat results as guidance, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice.

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