SCSS Calculator: Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme

Enter the amount, up to ₹30 lakh, and your tax slab. The calculator works the interest SCSS pays every quarter for five years, the tax on it and the money in your hands, and sets it beside a senior citizen’s bank FD and the other Post Office schemes for the same five years.

Post Office rates for October to December 2026 (India Post; NSI) · National Savings Schemes, 2019 · SBI retail term deposit card rates w.e.f. 15 December 2025, page updated 19 October 2026 · DICGC cover ₹5 lakh · Income-tax Act, 2025: sections 123 and 393(1) · reviewed 21 October 2026

What you are putting away

How you invest

Amount

₹

A Time Deposit, NSC or KVP takes ₹1,000 or more

For how long The Post Office’s own terms; 9 years 7 months is the KVP’s

You

Your age Seniors get more from a bank, and the SCSS

Your income tax slab The rate your next rupee of income pays; 4% cess is added

Old regime: count the section 123 (80C) saving For the 5-year TD, NSC, SCSS, PPF, Sukanya and a 5-year tax-saver FD, on up to ₹1.5 lakh a year, if you have that room left

The bank

Bank FD rate, % a year Empty: SBI’s card rate for the term and your age

Another bank’s rate, to compare (optional) Type the rate from that bank’s own page

SCSS interest, worked

At 8.2% for October to December 2026, paid every quarter for five years.

₹30 lakh, the most it takes₹61,500 a quarter

₹12,30,000 over five years, before tax.

₹10 lakh₹20,500 a quarter

₹4,10,000 over five years, before tax.

A senior’s 5-year FD at SBI7.05%

Against 8.2% from SCSS.

Checked against the scheme’s own figures

Senior Citizens’, ₹30 lakh at 8.2%

₹61,500 a quarter✓ matches

NSI: interest paid every quarter, on the first working day of April, July, October and January: ₹61,500 a quarter.

The rule ↗

SCSS rules, and where each comes from

Interest8.2%

Read at sourceIndia Post; NSI, October to December 2026

Where it comes from

Paid every quarter, on the first working day of April, July, October and January. NSI on SCSS.

Who can open it60+, or 55 if retired

Read at sourceSenior Citizens’ Savings Scheme, 2019

Where it comes from

Open at 60, or from 55 to someone retired under superannuation, VRS or special VRS; defence retirees from 50. The 2019 scheme.

Limit and termUp to ₹30 lakh, 5 years

Read at sourceSenior Citizens’ Savings Scheme, 2019

Where it comes from

At least ₹1,000, at most ₹30 lakh; matures in five years.

Closing early1.5% or 1% deducted

Read at sourceSenior Citizens’ Savings Scheme, 2019

Where it comes from

Before a year the interest paid is recovered; 1.5% of the deposit is deducted in the second year and 1% after.

Tax and TDSTaxable; TDS above ₹1 lakh

Income-tax ActIncome-tax Act, 2025, sections 123 and 393(1)

Where it comes from

Interest is taxed at your slab. TDS of 10% once it crosses ₹1 lakh in a year for a senior citizen. The deposit qualifies under section 123 (formerly 80C) in the old regime.

SCSS: the questions people ask

How much interest does SCSS pay every quarter?

At 8.2% for October to December 2026, ₹61,500 a quarter on ₹30 lakh, the most the scheme takes, and ₹20,500 a quarter on ₹10 lakh, for five years. Interest is paid on the first working day of April, July, October and January, and the deposit comes back at the end.

Is this SCSS calculator free?

Yes. It is a free SCSS calculator: no sign-up, and the figures you type stay in your browser. It works the quarterly interest, the tax on it and the money in your hands, and sets SCSS beside a bank FD and the other Post Office schemes for five years. You can share the result as a link or a PDF.

Who can open an SCSS account?

Anyone aged 60 or more. Someone who has retired under superannuation, VRS or special VRS can open one from 55, and defence retirees from 50. The most it takes is ₹30 lakh.

Is SCSS interest taxable?

Yes. It is added to your income and taxed at your slab. The post office deducts 10% TDS once the interest crosses ₹1 lakh in a year for a senior citizen, under section 393(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly 194A); a Form 121 declaration, which replaced Form 15H, stops it where your tax for the year will be nil. The deposit qualifies under section 123 (formerly 80C) in the old regime.

SCSS or a bank FD for senior citizens?

At today’s rates SCSS pays 8.2% against 7.05% from SBI for a senior citizen’s 5-year FD, and it pays the interest out every quarter. A bank FD can be any size and term; SCSS stops at ₹30 lakh and runs five years. The calculator sets them side by side after tax.

Can SCSS be closed early?

Yes, at a cost. Before a year, the interest already paid is taken back; in the second year 1.5% of the deposit is deducted, and 1% after that.

What this calculator does and does not do

It does the arithmetic each scheme’s rules set, on the rates in force for October to December 2026 and SBI’s card rates, or the rate you type: the maturity value, the payouts, the tax year by year, any section 123 saving, and the yearly return after tax. It reproduces the maturity values printed in the Post Office RD Scheme to the paisa.

It does not know your bank’s special schemes or your other income, and it treats each scheme on its own, so two section 123 savings in one year would share one ₹1.5 lakh limit. Dates are counted from the day you invest, not from the financial year. It gives no view on which bank is safe and no recommendation to invest.

This is a calculator, not advice. For anything that affects your actual position, take advice — hello@caakhilesh.in.

See also the FD, RD and Post Office calculator with every scheme side by side, the guide to what ₹5 to ₹30 lakh pays a month at retirement, the retirement calculator, the TDS calculator, or all calculators.

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