Post Office MIS Calculator. A fixed monthly income.
Deposit ₹9,00,000 in a single Post Office MIS account at the current 7.4% rate and you receive ₹5,550 every month for 5 years. That is ₹66,600 a year and ₹3,33,000 of interest in total, after which your full ₹9,00,000 principal is returned. Interest is paid monthly and never compounds. It is fully taxable at your slab, and a POMIS deposit is not eligible for Section 80C.
Post Office MIS Calculator
| Monthly income | ₹5,550 |
| Quarterly equivalent | ₹16,650 |
| Annual income | ₹66,600 |
| Total interest over 5 years | ₹3,33,000 |
| Principal returned at maturity | ₹9,00,000 |
| Total you receive (payouts + principal) | ₹12,33,000 |
POMIS pays interest out every month, so it never rolls back into the balance. Your full ₹9,00,000 deposit is returned intact at the end of year 5. That is the trade: guaranteed monthly cash flow instead of compounding growth. If you want the money to grow, sweep each payout into an RD or SIP.
| Deposit | Monthly income | Annual income |
|---|---|---|
| ₹1 lakhentry ticket | ₹617 | ₹7,400 |
| ₹4.5 lakhold single cap | ₹2,775 | ₹33,300 |
| ₹9 lakhsingle-account max | ₹5,550 | ₹66,600 |
| ₹15 lakhjoint-account max | ₹9,250 | ₹1,11,000 |
7.4% is the rate notified for the current quarter, not a fixed contractual rate. The Ministry of Finance reviews small-savings rates every quarter, but a POMIS account locks in the rate that applied when you opened it for the entire 5-year term, so a mid-term revision changes the monthly income only on new accounts, not on yours. The scheme pays simple interest: the monthly payout is calculated as deposit × rate ÷ 1200 and credited to a linked savings account, so it never rolls back into the balance to compound. At maturity the principal is returned in full and unchanged. If a monthly payout is not withdrawn it simply sits in the linked post office savings account earning that account's own rate, not the MIS rate.
POMIS vs SCSS vs a 5-year bank FD.
All three are low-risk, capital-safe ways to earn a fixed return over five years, but they are not interchangeable. SCSS pays more, but it is gated by age and is 80C-eligible. A bank FD is the most flexible on payout and tenure. POMIS sits in between: open to any adult, a clean monthly cheque, but no tax break at all.
| Post Office MIS | SCSS | 5-year bank FD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate this quarter | 7.4% | 8.2% | 6.5% to 7.5% |
| Payout | Monthly | Quarterly | Monthly, quarterly or cumulative |
| Who can open it | Any resident adult | Age 60+ (55+ on retirement or VRS) | Anyone |
| Maximum deposit | ₹9L single, ₹15L joint | ₹30 lakh | No cap |
| Section 80C deduction | No | Yes, up to ₹1.5L | Only the 5-year tax-saving FD |
| Interest taxed | Yes, no TDS | Yes, TDS applies | Yes, TDS applies |
If you are 60 or older, SCSS almost always wins: it pays 0.8 points more and gives you an 80C deduction POMIS cannot. If you are under 60, or you have already parked ₹30 lakh in SCSS, POMIS is the natural next slot for reliable monthly income. A bank FD only edges ahead when you want a cumulative (reinvested) option or a tenure other than five years.
Post Office MIS FAQ.
How does the 7.4% POMIS interest actually work?▾
POMIS pays 7.4% per year, but it hands that interest to you in twelve monthly instalments instead of compounding it. On a ₹9 lakh single account the maths is simply 9,00,000 × 7.4 ÷ 1200 = ₹5,550 credited every month, ₹66,600 across the year, and ₹3,33,000 over the full five-year term. Because the interest is paid out, it never earns interest on itself, so the effective yield equals the headline rate with no compounding bonus. The 7.4% figure is the rate notified for the current quarter. The Ministry of Finance can revise it, but a change applies only to accounts opened after the revision, not to one already running.
What are the deposit limits after the 2023 change?▾
A single POMIS account now accepts up to ₹9,00,000, and a joint account up to ₹15,00,000. Both ceilings were doubled in the February 2023 Budget from the earlier ₹4.5 lakh and ₹9 lakh limits, the first increase in years. The minimum is ₹1,000, and every deposit must be a multiple of ₹1,000. A joint account can have up to three adults, each with an equal share, but the ₹15 lakh cap applies to the account as a whole, not per person. Across all your POMIS accounts, single holdings and your share of joint accounts combined, your personal total cannot exceed ₹9 lakh.
Is POMIS eligible for Section 80C, and is the interest taxed?▾
No, and this is the most common misconception. A POMIS deposit does not qualify for any Section 80C deduction, unlike PPF, SCSS, NSC or the 5-year tax-saving FD. You get no deduction for putting the money in. On top of that, the monthly interest is fully taxable: it is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate in the year you receive it. The one small mercy is that the post office deducts no TDS on POMIS, so nothing is withheld at source, but that does not make it tax-free. You must declare the interest yourself under income from other sources and pay any tax due.
Can I withdraw before the 5 years are up?▾
Yes, after the first year, with a penalty. There is a complete lock-in for the first 12 months, so no premature closure is allowed at all in year one. Close the account between one and three years from opening and 2% of the deposit is deducted as a penalty. Close it between three and five years and the penalty falls to 1% of the deposit. In both cases you get the rest of your principal back along with the monthly interest already paid up to that point. Hold to the full five years and there is no penalty: the entire deposit is returned. On the death of the holder the account is closed and refunded to the nominee with no penalty.
Can the monthly income be swept into an RD or savings account automatically?▾
Yes. The monthly payout is not handed out in cash; it is credited to a linked account, either your post office savings account or a bank savings account, from which you can spend or reinvest it. A popular move is to set a standing instruction so each POMIS payout flows straight into a post office recurring deposit, which does compound, turning a flat monthly income into a growing corpus by the end of five years. You can also route it to a bank account and run a mutual fund SIP. The payout itself stays simple interest. Any growth comes from what you do with it after it lands.