SCSS calculator — quarterly pension for seniors.
Senior Citizen Savings Scheme pays 8.2% (Q4 FY26), the highest safe sovereign-guaranteed rate available in India. Interest is CREDITED QUARTERLY to your savings account — think of it as a quarterly pension. 5-year tenure, extendable 3 years. Cap raised to ₹30 lakh per depositor (Budget 2023).
Your deposit
Q4 FY26 rate: 8.2%. Maximum investment cap: ₹30 lakh (raised from ₹15L in Budget 2023). Interest PAID OUT quarterly — not compounded. Eligibility: 60+ years, or 55+ VRS retirees.
Read-out
A ₹15,00,000 deposit at 8.2% gives you ₹30,750 every quarter (~₹10,250/month) for 5 years. At maturity your principal of ₹15.00 L comes back. Total interest earned: ₹6.15 L.
Tax + rules
- • 80C deduction on principal (₹1.5L cap, old regime). Interest is fully taxable at slab.
- • TDS 10% if annual interest > ₹50k. File Form 15H to stop TDS if total income is below taxable threshold.
- • Premature withdrawal penalty: 1% after 1 year, 1.5% after 2 years.
- • Extension allowed for 3 more years after 5-year maturity (1 application needed).
Eligibility
- • 60+ years at the time of account opening.
- • 55–60 years allowed if you've retired under VRS or superannuation, and invest within 1 month of receiving retirement benefits.
- • 50+ retired defence personnel eligible.
- • NRIs + HUFs NOT eligible.
- • Joint account allowed with spouse only (primary depositor must meet age criterion).
SCSS vs other senior options
- • SCSS (8.2%) — sovereign-guaranteed, ₹30L cap, 80C on principal. Interest taxable at slab.
- • PMVVY — closed for new subscriptions since March 2023.
- • Senior-citizen FDs (SBI/HDFC): 7.5–8% with bonus. DICGC-insured only up to ₹5L per bank. Use multiple banks for larger corpus.
- • Tax-free bonds on secondary market: ~5.5-6.5% YTM, but YIELDS are fully tax-free — effective ~7.5-8.5% equivalent for 30%-bracket investors.
- • Debt funds (short-term gilt, corporate bond): 6.5-7.5%, but taxable at slab + variable.
Typical retiree allocation: max SCSS (₹30L) first → SBI-Senior FD next ₹15L → then tax-free bonds on secondary market for any surplus.
Paired tools
Research tool · not investment advice.
Axel Markets is an information + analytics product. We are not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst (RA) or Investment Adviser (IA). Nothing on this page is a buy, sell, or hold recommendation. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Verify all data against the authoritative source (NSE, BSE, AMFI, SEBI, company RHP / factsheet) before acting. SCSS rate resets quarterly. Interest is taxable at slab rate — submit Form 15H if total income is below the basic exemption to avoid TDS.