₹1 lakh FD Interest for 3 Years

The post-tax return is the only one that counts

FD interest is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate — there is no special treatment. For a 30%-bracket taxpayer, this deposit's ₹23,144 of interest becomes ₹16,201 after tax, an effective rate of about 4.9% rather than 7%.

With retail inflation running near 5-6%, that post-tax 4.9% means the deposit is roughly treading water in real terms. Over 3 years the ₹1.23 lakh you receive has the purchasing power of about ₹1.03 lakh today.

TDS, Form 15G and the ₹50,000 threshold

Banks deduct 10% TDS once your interest from that bank crosses ₹50,000 in a financial year (₹1 lakh for senior citizens). This deposit earns about ₹7,715 of interest a year, so TDS will not apply on this deposit alone.

TDS is not the final tax — you still settle the balance at your slab rate when filing. If your total income is below the taxable limit, submit Form 15G (or 15H if you are a senior citizen) at the start of the year to stop the deduction.

Where an FD still makes sense

Despite the poor post-tax maths, an FD is the right instrument for money you cannot afford to lose: emergency funds, a down payment due in 18 months, or a parent's income corpus. Capital safety has a price, and 4.9% post-tax is it.

• Ladder several smaller FDs instead of one large one, so an emergency never forces you to break the whole amount.
• For long-term tax-free growth, PPF at 7.1% tax-free beats a 7% taxable FD outright.
• For regular income with better tax treatment, an SWP from a debt or hybrid fund is usually more efficient.