ELSS calculator
A ₹10,000 monthly ELSS SIP invests ₹1.2 lakh a year — fully within the ₹1.5 lakh Section 80C cap — saving ₹36,000 of tax a year at the 30% slab. Over 10 years that is ₹3.6 L of tax saved and a corpus of ₹23,23,391. But 80C only exists in the old regime.
Your ELSS SIP
What leaves your bank account every month. Type any amount — the slider is just a shortcut.
An assumption, not a promise. Equity funds are usually modelled at 10–12%; see what rate to assume.
Section 80C exists only in the old regime. The new regime has been the default since FY 2023-24, so pick the first option if you have not opted out of it.
Corpus and tax saved
What you investWhat compounding adds
| Year | Monthly | Invested so far | Returns | Value at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹10,000 | ₹1,20,000 | ₹8,093 | ₹1,28,093 |
| 2 | ₹10,000 | ₹2,40,000 | ₹32,432 | ₹2,72,432 |
| 3 | ₹10,000 | ₹3,60,000 | ₹75,076 | ₹4,35,076 |
| 4 | ₹10,000 | ₹4,80,000 | ₹1,38,348 | ₹6,18,348 |
| 5 | ₹10,000 | ₹6,00,000 | ₹2,24,864 | ₹8,24,864 |
| 6 | ₹10,000 | ₹7,20,000 | ₹3,37,570 | ₹10,57,570 |
| 7 | ₹10,000 | ₹8,40,000 | ₹4,79,790 | ₹13,19,790 |
| 8 | ₹10,000 | ₹9,60,000 | ₹6,55,266 | ₹16,15,266 |
| 9 | ₹10,000 | ₹10,80,000 | ₹8,68,215 | ₹19,48,215 |
| 10 | ₹10,000 | ₹12,00,000 | ₹11,23,391 | ₹23,23,391 |
The thing to settle before anything else
Section 80C only exists in the old regime
The new tax regime has been the default since FY 2023-24, and it has no Section 80C deduction. If you are on it — and most people now are, unless they actively opted out — an ELSS investment saves you no tax at all.
That does not make ELSS worthless; it makes it just another equity fund, with a three-year lock-in you are getting nothing in return for. In that case a plain equity fund with no lock-in is usually the better instrument.
Set the slab dropdown to "New regime" above to see the honest picture for your situation. Verify your own regime and current limits with the Income Tax Department or a tax professional.
How the three-year lock-in really works with a SIP
People assume the whole investment unlocks three years after they started. It does not.
Every instalment is a separate purchase with its own three-year clock. A SIP started in April 2026 has its April instalment free in April 2029, its May instalment in May 2029, and so on. The instalment you paid last month is locked until three years from last month.
So a ten-year ELSS SIP is never fully liquid until three years after the final instalment. That is the shortest lock-in among 80C options — PPF runs fifteen years and tax-saving FDs five — but it is still a rolling constraint rather than a single date.
Tax when you eventually sell
The deduction on the way in does not make the gains tax-free on the way out. ELSS is an equity fund, so equity capital gains rules apply.
Because the lock-in is three years, every redemption is automatically long-term: taxed at 12.5% on gains above the ₹1.25 lakh annual long-term equity exemption, following the July 2024 changes. Details and the debt-fund contrast are in SIP taxation in India.
Before you rely on this
An estimate, not a forecast
This is arithmetic applied to assumptions you chose. Mutual funds carry market risk, returns are not guaranteed, and past performance does not indicate future results. Nothing here is personalised advice — for decisions of any size, speak to a SEBI-registered investment adviser.
Questions people actually ask
What is ELSS?
An Equity Linked Savings Scheme: an equity mutual fund that qualifies for a Section 80C deduction in the old tax regime, in exchange for a three-year lock-in on each investment.
Apart from the lock-in and the tax status it behaves like any other equity fund, with the same market risk.
How much tax can ELSS actually save?
At most the 80C cap of ₹1.5 lakh multiplied by your slab rate — so up to about ₹46,800 a year at the 30% slab including cess, and only if you are on the old regime and not already using the cap on EPF, insurance premiums, home loan principal or tuition fees.
That last point matters: EPF contributions alone often fill much of the ₹1.5 lakh before you invest a rupee in ELSS.
Is ELSS better than PPF for tax saving?
They answer different questions. PPF is guaranteed, government-backed, tax-free on maturity, and locked for fifteen years. ELSS is market-linked with a three-year lock-in, higher expected return and real risk of loss.
Horizon usually decides it: under five years, the certainty of PPF; over ten, the expected return of equity. Compare them directly in SIP vs PPF.
Can I invest more than ₹1.5 lakh a year in ELSS?
Yes — there is no cap on investing, only on the deduction. Anything above ₹1.5 lakh gets no tax benefit but is still locked for three years, which is the worst of both worlds.
If you want to invest more, a regular equity fund without the lock-in is usually the better home for the excess. The calculator flags the above-cap amount so you can see it.