SCSS Calculator – Senior Citizens Savings Scheme India

What is the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS)?

The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme is a government-backed 5-year deposit for Indians aged 60 and above (55+ for certain VRS and defence retirees). You deposit a lump sum once, and the scheme pays you interest every quarter, straight into your savings account, for five years. At the end, your principal comes back unchanged.

It is run by the Ministry of Finance through post offices and authorised banks, so the money carries a sovereign guarantee rather than a bank's credit risk.

SCSS interest rate

The rate you get is the rate on the day you deposit, and it stays fixed for your full 5-year term. A later quarterly revision does not change an account that is already open — it only affects new deposits and extensions.

SCSS monthly income: what a deposit actually pays

SCSS pays quarterly, not monthly, so "monthly income" is the quarterly payout divided by three. On the full ₹30 lakh at 8.2%:

A couple who each open an account can deposit ₹30 lakh apiece, which is ₹41,000 a month between them before tax.

The payouts land on fixed quarter-end dates, not on the anniversary of your deposit. If you open an account in mid-February, your first credit arrives at the end of March and covers only the weeks you were invested.

SCSS premature closure rules and penalty

You can close an SCSS account before five years. There is a penalty, and it is charged on the deposit, not on the interest you have already been paid:

On ₹30 lakh, that is ₹45,000 if you close in year 2 and ₹30,000 if you close in year 4 — against ₹2.46 lakh of interest a year. The exit cost is modest in proportion, which is worth knowing if you are weighing SCSS against locking money into something with no exit at all.

If the account holder dies, the account is closed at the depositor's request without any penalty, and interest is paid at the SCSS rate up to the date of death.

How SCSS interest is calculated

SCSS interest is simple interest paid out quarterly. It does not compound inside the scheme, because the money leaves the account each quarter.

quarterly_payout = deposit × annual_rate / 400
monthly_equivalent = quarterly_payout / 3
total_interest = quarterly_payout × 4 × 5
maturity_value = deposit (returned unchanged)

This is the difference people most often miss when comparing SCSS to PPF or NSC. A scheme quoting the same rate but compounding annually ends up ahead over five years, because its interest earns interest. SCSS trades that away for cash in hand every quarter, which is the whole point of the product.

SCSS maturity and extension: what happens after 5 years

At maturity you can take the money, or extend. Since November 2023 the account can be extended in blocks of three years, more than once — the earlier rule allowed only a single extension.

• The extension runs at the SCSS rate prevailing on the maturity date, not your original rate.
• You have one year from maturity to apply for the extension.
• An extended account can be closed after one year of the extension with no penalty.
• If you do nothing, the account stops earning the SCSS rate and earns the post office savings account rate instead.

That last point is the expensive one. An account left unattended after maturity quietly drops to a fraction of what it was earning.

SCSS eligibility and deposit limits

• Age: Indian resident aged 60 or above. Retirees aged 55 to 60 who took voluntary retirement can open one within a month of receiving their retirement benefits. Defence personnel can open from 50.
• Deposit: ₹1,000 minimum, ₹30 lakh maximum per individual.
• The cap is per person, not per account. You may hold accounts at several banks and post offices, but ₹30 lakh is the combined ceiling across all of them.
• Joint accounts: only with a spouse. The whole deposit is treated as the first holder's.
• NRIs and HUFs cannot open an account. If you become an NRI during the term, the account runs to maturity but cannot be extended.
• Tenure: 5 years, extendable in 3-year blocks.

SCSS tax: 80C deduction, TDS and Form 15H

• The deposit qualifies for a Section 80C deduction, up to the ₹1.5 lakh overall 80C ceiling and only under the old tax regime.
• The interest is fully taxable at your slab rate. There is no special exemption for it.
• TDS applies once interest crosses ₹1,00,000 a year — the senior-citizen threshold from FY 2025-26, raised from ₹50,000. On the full ₹30 lakh you will cross it, since the annual interest is around ₹2.46 lakh.
• File Form 15H at the branch or post office if your total taxable income is below the exemption limit, and no TDS is deducted. It has to be filed afresh each financial year.
• Section 80TTB separately allows senior citizens a deduction of up to ₹50,000 on interest income, which covers part of the SCSS interest for smaller deposits.

If you are in the 30% slab in retirement, a 8.2% headline rate is closer to 5.7% after tax. That does not make it a bad deposit, but it is the number to compare against, not the headline.

SCSS at the post office vs at a bank

The scheme is identical either way — same rate, same rules, same government guarantee. Only the service differs.

• Post office: available in far more locations, including places no bank branch reaches. Passbook-based. Interest is credited to a post office savings account, which you may have to open alongside.
• Banks (SBI, ICICI, Axis, PNB, Canara, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda and others): interest credits directly into your existing savings account, and the account usually appears in net banking, which makes it easier to track and easier for a family member to help manage.

Neither pays more than the other. If you already bank somewhere and want the interest to arrive in the account you actually use, the bank route is simpler.

How to open an SCSS account

1. Go to any post office or authorised bank branch.
2. Carry PAN, Aadhaar, proof of age (passport, voter ID, PAN or birth certificate), and two photographs.
3. Fill Form A. A spouse joining as joint holder signs the same form.
4. Pay by cheque or demand draft. Cash is accepted only below ₹1 lakh.
5. Nominate someone. This is the step most often skipped, and the one that causes the most trouble later.

Interest starts accruing from the date of deposit and is first credited at the next quarter end.

SCSS compared with other options for retirees

Government scheme rates below are the notified rates for the current quarter and change with the rate cycle.

The trade-offs run in different directions, so the comparison is not a ranking. SCSS pays the most among the guaranteed options here but caps you at ₹30 lakh and requires you to be 60. MIS pays monthly rather than quarterly, which matters if your expenses are monthly. An SWP is the only one on the list with no cap and no age test, and the only one where the payout is not guaranteed.

Most retirement plans end up using more than one of these rather than choosing between them.