SCSS Calculator – Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme

QUICK REFERENCE

Quarterly income at 8.2%

What the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme pays every quarter at the current rate of 8.2%, and what is left after tax at the 30% slab under the new regime. The deposit itself comes back after 5 years.

Rounded to the rupee. "After tax" is per quarter, at the 30% slab plus 4% cess under the new regime, ignoring surcharge.

HOW IT WORKS

How the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme pays you

The Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme (SCSS) is a government savings scheme for retirees, offered by post offices and authorised banks. You deposit a lump sum once; it pays interest every quarter for 5 years and then returns the deposit. The interest is simple: it is paid out, not added to the balance, so it does not compound inside the account.

On the default example, ₹30,00,000 at 8.2%, that is ₹61,500 a quarter, ₹2,46,000 a year (about ₹20,500 a month on average) and ₹12,30,000 over the 5 years, with the full ₹30,00,000 returned at the end. Interest is credited on 1 April, 1 July, 1 October and 1 January, so the first payment covers only the part of the quarter after you open the account.

Rate, limit and who can open one

The government sets the SCSS rate every quarter. For October–December 2026 it is 8.2%, unchanged under the notification of 30 September 2026, and the rate on the day you open the account stays fixed for its 5 years. You can deposit from ₹1,000 in multiples of ₹1,000, up to ₹30 lakh per person across all your SCSS accounts, a limit raised from ₹15 lakh in the 2023 Budget. A couple can each open an account, so together they can put in ₹60 lakh and receive ₹1,23,000 a quarter.

The scheme is open to residents aged 60 or over, to people aged 55 to 60 who have retired on superannuation or voluntary retirement (investing their retirement benefits within the time the rules allow), and to retired defence personnel from age 50.

Tax: what you keep

The interest is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate. Under the new tax regime there are no deductions: at the 30% slab plus 4% cess, ₹19,188 of each ₹61,500 goes in tax, leaving ₹42,312 a quarter, or ₹3,83,760 of tax over 5 years. Under the old regime two deductions help. Senior citizens can deduct up to ₹50,000 a year of interest from deposits (80TTB), which cuts the tax on ₹30 lakh to ₹61,152 a year, and the deposit itself counts towards the ₹1.5 lakh 80C limit in the year you make it, worth ₹46,800 once at the 30% slab. Which regime suits you depends on all your income, not just this deposit.

Once a year's interest passes the TDS limit for senior citizens (₹1 lakh since April 2025), tax is deducted at source. If your total tax for the year is nil, submit Form 15H to the post office or bank to stop it.

Extending after 5 years

At maturity you can extend the account by 3 years, and since a 2023 amendment you can do it again at the end of each extension. Ask within a year of maturity. The extended account earns the rate in force on the day it matures, not your original rate. Kept for 8 years at 8.2%, ₹30 lakh would pay ₹19,68,000 in all.

Closing early

You can close the account at any time, at a cost. In the first year the interest already paid is taken back out of the deposit, so you leave with your money and nothing more. After one year and before two, 1.5% of the deposit is deducted; after two years, 1%. On ₹30 lakh that is ₹45,000 or ₹30,000, and the quarterly income received after the first year is yours to keep.

SCSS or the Monthly Income Scheme?

Both are post-office income schemes that return the deposit after 5 years, but SCSS pays a higher rate. On ₹9 lakh, SCSS at 8.2% pays ₹18,450 a quarter, about ₹6,150 a month, against ₹5,550 a month from the Monthly Income Scheme at 7.4%: ₹36,000 more over the 5 years. MIS is open to anyone and pays every month; SCSS is only for seniors and pays every quarter. The SCSS, senior FD and MIS guide compares all three for retirement income.