Calculate your Section 80C tax savings, project your ELSS corpus after the 3-year lock-in, and compare it against other tax-saving instruments — all in one place.
Every year, the Indian government lets you reduce your taxable income by up to ₹1.5 lakh under Section 80C. You can use this for PPF, insurance premiums, home loan principal, or ELSS mutual funds. ELSS is special: it's the only 80C option invested in the stock market. So you get a tax rebate now, and potential equity-level growth for the next 3 years.
Think of it this way: when you invest ₹1.5 lakh in ELSS, the government refunds a chunk of your tax. Your real out-of-pocket cost is much less than ₹1.5 lakh. You're investing at a government-subsidised discount.
Deepak earns ₹14 lakh/year and falls in the 30% tax slab (old regime). He invests ₹1,50,000 in ELSS in March:
💸 Tax saved: 30% of ₹1.5L + 4% cess = ₹46,800 refunded
🎯 His actual out-of-pocket cost: ₹1,50,000 − ₹46,800 = ₹1,03,200
After the 3-year lock-in, his ELSS grows at 13% CAGR to: ₹2,15,670
His effective return on what he actually spent (₹1,03,200): 27.8% CAGR!
Compare: PPF gives 7.1% guaranteed but locks money for 15 years. ELSS gives equity-level growth with only a 3-year lock-in.
ELSS works best for people in the 20% or 30% tax slab under the old regime. The higher your tax bracket, the bigger the effective subsidy from the government. If you're in the 5% slab, the tax benefit is small — but ELSS is still a great equity investment with a short lock-in.
Buying ELSS in lump sum every March to save tax. This is tax-panic investing. SIP into ELSS every month across the year — you get rupee cost averaging (buying units at different prices), and you're never scrambling in March. Also: each SIP instalment has its own 3-year lock-in clock.
Enter your investment details to see how much tax you save immediately and how much wealth ELSS builds over your chosen horizon.