PPF Calculator

You've been putting ₹1.5 lakh into your PPF account every April for several years. But when your company announced a restructuring, you realised you had no clear picture of how much was actually in there, whether you could take out some funds right now, or what the actual benefit of continuing after the 15-year lock-in would be. The AWE-OS PPF Calculator addresses all three questions across three dedicated tabs — a main calculator for your full 15-year maturity projection, an extension planner that models post-maturity growth to year 30, and a withdrawal calculator that applies the exact PPF formula to tell you how much you can access right now.

PPF is one of the few investment instruments in India that still enjoys full EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) tax status under both old and new tax regimes in its pure form. Deposits up to ₹1.5 lakh per year qualify for Section 80C deduction, all interest earned is completely tax-free, and the entire maturity amount is exempt from income tax. For an investor in the 30% slab making the maximum ₹1.5 lakh annual deposit, the tax savings alone are ₹45,000 per year — or ₹6.75 lakh over 15 years before counting any interest. The effective return on PPF at 7.1% is substantially better than 7.1% once this tax benefit is factored in, making it genuinely competitive with many higher-stated-return options that are fully taxable.

One detail that costs many PPF investors real money is the timing of their deposit. PPF interest is calculated on the minimum balance between the 5th and last day of each month, and credited annually on March 31. A ₹1.5 lakh deposit made on April 4 earns interest for all 12 months of that financial year. The same deposit made on April 6 loses interest for the entire month of April — on ₹1.5 lakh at 7.1%, that's roughly ₹900 lost in a single year, and ₹13,000+ compounded over 15 years. The calculator uses annual deposits, reflecting the most common scenario, but the timing principle applies regardless of how you structure your instalments.

One of the least understood aspects of PPF is what actually happens at year 15. Many account holders withdraw and close — but for those who don't need the funds immediately, this is often not the optimal choice. The account can be extended in 5-year blocks with no limit on the number of extensions. Extending with fresh deposits continues the 80C deduction on new contributions and compounds the entire corpus at the prevailing PPF rate, still tax-free. Extending without deposits lets the existing balance compound at the government rate with no fresh commitment and allows one full withdrawal per year of any amount. The Extension tab models both scenarios to year 30 in rupee terms, so you can see the actual financial difference between each path for your specific deposit amount.