How the PPF calculator works

The Public Provident Fund (PPF) is a government-backed, long-term savings scheme with a 15-year tenure, guaranteed interest and EEE tax status. You can deposit between ₹500 and ₹1,50,000 in a financial year.

PPF interest compounds annually. Each year your new deposit is added to the running balance and the total earns interest at the PPF rate: balance = (balance + yearly deposit) × (1 + rate). The current rate is 7.1% per annum.

Enter your yearly deposit, the number of years (default 15) and the rate (default 7.1%). The tool instantly shows your maturity amount, total invested and the interest earned. Deposits above ₹1.5 lakh per year are automatically capped because they earn no interest.

Why PPF is a powerful tax-free wealth builder

• EEE status: deposit is 80C-deductible, interest is exempt and maturity is fully tax-free.
• Sovereign guarantee — among the safest fixed-income options in India.
• ₹1.5 lakh annual limit; minimum ₹500 to keep the account active.
• 15-year lock-in, extendable in 5-year blocks with or without contributions.
• Partial withdrawals and loans against the balance allowed from specified years.

PPF tax benefits under Section 80C

PPF deposits qualify for deduction up to ₹1.5 lakh per year under Section 80C of the old tax regime. Crucially, the interest accrued each year and the entire maturity amount are exempt from income tax — a rare triple exemption.

Under the new tax regime the 80C deduction is not available, so the value of PPF for a client depends on which regime they choose. A chartered accountant can compare PPF against ELSS (higher potential return, market risk) and tax-saving FDs (taxable interest) when planning a client’s 80C basket.

Example: ₹1.5 lakh per year for 15 years

Depositing the maximum ₹1,50,000 every year for 15 years means a total investment of ₹22,50,000. At 7.1% compounded annually, the maturity value is roughly ₹40.68 lakh — about ₹18.18 lakh of completely tax-free interest. Extending the account in 5-year blocks compounds the corpus even further.

For CA firms and advisors

Chartered accountants and advisors use PPF projections to design a client’s 80C plan, build a guaranteed tax-free retirement corpus and decide how much to route to PPF versus ELSS or NPS. The PPF rate is revised quarterly by the government, so revisit projections when the rate changes.

Illustrative PPF maturity at 7.1% p.a.