Loan & Finance · Savings certificates & accounts
National Savings Profit Calculator
What a certificate or savings account actually pays you — per payout and over the term, after withholding tax and Zakat. Rates are an input, because yours is the rate on your certificate, not today's.
Step by step
How the profit is worked out
Income schemes
Annual profit divided across the payouts in the year, on an unchanging principal.
Accumulating schemes
Profit compounds yearly, so the maturity value exceeds the sum of the profits taken separately.
Deduct tax on the profit
Withholding applies to the profit element, not to your capital.
Deduct Zakat from the holding
Where it applies, it comes off the principal on the valuation date, which is a different base entirely.
Reading the result
Your rate is the one on your certificate
National Savings rates are revised regularly, but the rate that applies to you is the one in force when your certificate was issued, and it holds for that certificate's term. A rate announced today tells you nothing about a certificate bought two years ago.
That is why nothing is pre-filled here. A published current rate applied to an older holding gives an answer that is confidently wrong.
Income schemes and accumulating certificates are different products
An income scheme pays out periodically on an unchanging principal — the capital does not grow. An accumulating certificate compounds and pays at encashment. Comparing the headline rates without accounting for that difference compares two things that are not alike.
Tax and Zakat come off different amounts
Withholding is deducted from the profit. Zakat, where it applies, is deducted from the principal on 1 Ramadan, and an account holder who has filed the prescribed declaration is exempt from that deduction. Two deductions, two bases, and the net figure depends on both.
Where this stops
Encashing early usually changes the return, sometimes substantially, because a reduced rate applies for the period held. The schedule here assumes you hold to the term you enter.
FAQs
National Savings FAQs
Why is no profit rate filled in?
Rates on National Savings schemes are revised on a rolling basis and differ by scheme and by issue date — the rate that applies to you is the one in force when your certificate was issued, not today's. A hardcoded number would be wrong for most visitors most of the time, so the field is an input. Take the figure from your certificate or the current rate sheet.
What is the difference between the payout options?
Income-paying schemes hand you profit at fixed intervals and return your principal at maturity, so the principal never grows. Accumulating schemes pay nothing along the way and compound the profit, so the maturity value is well above what you put in. On the same headline rate the accumulating option produces more in total — the trade is that you cannot spend it in the meantime.
Is tax deducted from my profit?
Profit on debt is subject to withholding, at rates that differ for persons on and off the Active Taxpayers List, and the treatment of that deduction depends on your circumstances. Certain schemes intended for pensioners, widows and senior citizens have carried exemptions or concessions up to specified limits. Enter the rate that applies to you; the calculator does not assume one.
What about Zakat?
Zakat is deducted at source on certain schemes on the valuation date each year, unless a declaration of exemption is on file. It is a deduction from your holding rather than a tax on your profit, which is why it is a separate field here and is applied to the principal, not to the profit.
Is the profit rate on my certificate fixed for the whole term?
On most certificate schemes the rate is fixed at issue for the life of that certificate, so a later revision does not change what you hold — that is the point of buying at a good rate. Accounts, by contrast, generally move with the announced rate. Check which of the two you have before assuming your return is locked.
What if I encash early?
Early encashment typically means a reduced rate for the period held, and on some schemes a service charge, so the effective return is lower than the headline figure. This calculator prices holding to the term you enter; treat it as a best case if you may need the money sooner.
Is this the same as a bank term deposit?
The arithmetic is similar, but the schemes are not — profit rates, tax treatment, Zakat deduction, encashment rules and eligibility all differ, and some schemes are restricted to specific categories of investor. Compare the net figure this page produces rather than headline rates.
Related tools
Working out the tax side separately?
Profit on debt has its own withholding treatment and thresholds.
Open Profit on Debt Tax Calculator