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All you wanted to know about Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)
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What is Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)?
The “Senior Citizen Savings Scheme” (or SCSS) is a deposit scheme specially meant for elderly citizens. |
Features / Overview of the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)
Age Criteria
The investment can be made only by people of 60 years of age or above.
People who have retired on superannuation or under a voluntary retirement scheme can also invest if they are at least 55 years old.
People retiring from defense services are eligible to invest in the scheme irrespective of the age limit, but there are some additional conditions applicable.
Other Restrictions
The Senior Citizen Savings Scheme account can be opened only by individuals. It can not be opened by Non-Resident Indians (NRI), Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) and Hindu Undivided Families (HUF).
Source of Funds
For people between 55 and 60 years of age, the amount invested in SCSS has to come from their retirement benefits.
For persons over the age of 60 years, there is no restriction on the source of funds invested.
Maturity
The Senior Citizen's Savings Scheme has a maturity of 5 years, which is extendable by 3 years.
Interest Rate
The rate of interest offered on the investment is 9% per annum.
Interest Payment
The interest is computed and paid out every quarter. That is, the interest is paid out every three months.
Income Tax Treatment
There is Section 80C income tax benefit on the investment made in SCSS, but there is no income tax benefit on the interest earned from it.
The investment made in the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme on or after 1st April, 2008 is deductible from your income under section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The interest earned on the deposit is fully taxable.
(To know more about the deductions under section 80C, and the avenues of investment u/s 80C, please read "Saving Income Tax – Understanding Section 80C Deductions")
Tax Deducted At Source (TDS)
The income tax applicable is deducted at source. If your income is not taxable, you can provide form 15H or 15G so that no tax is deducted at source.
The tax is deducted at source only if the total interest in a year is over Rs. 5,000.
Investment Limits
The minimum investment is Rs. 1,000, and the maximum allowed investment is Rs. 15 Lakhs. Any amount between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 15 Lakhs can be invested in multiples of Rs. 1,000.
Joint Account
The account can be opened as a single account, or can be opened in joint names. The joint account holder can only be the spouse.
There is no age limit applicable for the joint account holder (spouse).
In case of the death of the primary account holder, the spouse can continue the account – this is subject to the condition that his / her total investment in SCSS should not exceed Rs. 15 Lakhs.
Premature / Early Withdrawal
The amount can be withdrawn before the maturity date, provided the deposit is at least 1 year old. But early withdrawal carries a penalty as follows:
- Account age between 1 and 2 years: 1.5% of the deposit amount
- Account age over 2 years: 1% of the deposit amount
Loan / Pledging
You can not obtain a loan against the SCSS account by pledging it.
Nomination
Nomination facility is available for the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme. Names of one or more persons can be specified as nominees.
Nomination can be done even after opening the account. The nomination can also be changed or canceled later.
Nomination can also be done in case of joint accounts. In such cases, the joint holder is entitled to the amount in case of death of the primary account holder. The nominee(s) would have a claim only after the death of both the joint holders.
Should you invest in Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)?
Interest Rate
Till very recently, the prevailing interest rates on bank fixed / term deposits were 5% - 6% per year. At that time, the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme was very popular with people, as it provided interest rates that were way above the average market rates.
But now (August 2008), with interest rates on FDs being as high as 10% (with an additional 0.5% for senior citizens), the interest offered on Senior Citizen Savings Scheme looks quite low.
Interest Payment
The interest is paid out every 3 months. This means that SCSS can provide a steady, periodic income.
Safety
The SCSS is backed by the Government of India, and thus, carries a sovereign guarantee for principal and interest payments.
Therefore, it is among the safest investment avenues available in India.
Bottomline
Since the scheme is absolutely safe, and provides periodic payment of interest, retirees and senior citizens can invest a portion of their retirement corpus in the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme.
How to invest in the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS)
A Senior Citizen Savings Scheme account can be opened at any designated post office throughout the country.
The scheme can also be opened at the designated branches of the following public sector banks:
- Allahabad Bank
- Bank of Baroda (BoB)
- Bank of India (BoI)
- Bank of Maharashtra (BoM)
- Canara Bank
- Central Bank of India (CBI)
- Corporation Bank
- Dena Bank
- Indian Bank
- Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)
- Punjab National Bank (PNB)
- State Bank of India (SBI)
- State Bank of Hyderabad
- State Bank of Indore
- State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ)
- State Bank of Patiala
- State Bank of Saurashtra
- State Bank of Mysore
- State Bank of Travancore (SBT)
- Syndicate Bank
- UCO Bank
- Union Bank of India
- United Bank of India
- Vijaya Bank
A Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) account can also be opened at ICICI Bank. ICICI Bank is the only private bank where an SCSS account can be opened.
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Note: Please treat the opinion expressed here as a broad suggestion. Please consult your financial planner / investment advisor before making any investment decision.
Comments
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Jan 08, 2009
I'm sorry, but I didn't quite understand your query.
However, to clarify:
- You can not take a loan from your SCSS
- You can withdraw early, provided your SCSS account is at least 1 year old. However, there is a small penalty as mentioned in the article.
- A fixed deposit (FD) can be cashed prematurely. Again, you would have to pay a small penalty, which varies from bank to bank.
Mar 11, 2009
My query is how to treat premature payment of penelty charged/ which is actualy loss of interst income to individual. Such penelty amount is recovered under the scheme is deducted from premature payment of principle amount by bank/ Post office. as interest is paid on quaterly basis a different date, and such a penelty is not appropriated to interest payable.
Secondaly bank also dont pay interest for fraction of month.
Hope to find your reply for fixing my income
Thanks!
I am not sure if I understand your query properly... Are you saying that the penalty should be deducted from the interest earned instead of deducting from the withdrawn amount?
I believe it makes more operational sense to deduct it from the amount withdrawn.
Mar 23, 2009
Unfortunately, I am not aware of any concession in the age limit of senior citizens for retired military personnel for the SBI tax saving scheme.
Mar 26, 2009
I only advise readers about various investment options.
The SCSS account can be opened at a post office or a bank as described in this article.
Apr 05, 2009
A week back, I noted about Sr Citizens Savings Scheme being included for Tax savings from Apr 2009from that, but can't find any conformatory fact .Not even from my CA !Nor from income-tax deppt. web-site nor that of Postal deptt.'s !!On the contrary they state opposite.
Now today -when I decide to act on investment on SCSS, am unable to find that article on yr web-site. Will U pl send that and advise if my investments upto Rs 50,000 done now in SCSS will earn me income-tax rebate of Rs 7500 ( as I come in 15 % tax rebate) ? Another 50,000 I plan to save in my existing PPF a/c for another tax rebate of Rs 7500 for A.Y. 2010-2011.
It will be nice of U to give any ref. of authority other than news-ppr reports.
Thanks a lot .
Yrs. Faith.ly,
Narendra Oza.
Yes, investment in SCSS is eligible for deduction under section 80C.
But you are mistaken about tax rebates - now there is no income tax slab of 15%.
Thus, if you fall under the 20% bracket, you would save tax of Rs. 10,000 on an investment of Rs. 50,000.
(To understand section 80C better, please read "Saving Income Tax – Understanding Section 80C Deductions").
As a proof of this, you can check out the press release on the Income Tax department's website: http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/archive/PressRelease_02012008.pdf
Apr 11, 2009
As my agent is giving me only 25 paisa against promised 65 paisa
I do not know the exact percentage of commission given to the agents.
However, please note that the entire practice of passing some of the commission to the investor (a cut, so to say) is illegal (thats why this "cut" is always given out in cash!).
May 13, 2009
Yes, you can open another SCSS account.
May 17, 2009
May 24, 2009
My father has retired in the month of February 09 from SAIL and has invested a part of the retirement funds at SBI FD for 1000 days (intrest to be paid quaterly) which at the time of investment in May was 8.75% for senior citizens as per my current understanding and has now been revised to either 8.5% or 8.25% (i am not sure). I have made enquiries at the local SBI and they have suggested due to the nature of SCSS and the tax being levied on the interest amount SBI FD will be better but reviewing the current market condition will it be viable to withdraw the FD in which the investment has been made in April and apply for SCSS at the local Post Office. If my father does how much penalty he wil have to pay as the interest at SCSS is still 9% better than the FDs...
Your advice will be highly appreciated..
Many Thanks,
Sahil
Well, yes, theoretically this is possible. However, I strongly encourage all my readers not to use loopholes to circumvent the spirit of the law.
SCSS is meant to provide a steady, guaranteed income to senior citizens, and should be utilized for this only.
I strongly believe that SCSS is the one of the best options for parking retirement money.
And its not just for the interest rates - they can keep changing (for FDs). For all the reasons, please read "Retirement money: How to invest, where to invest".
Also, if the interest from SCSS is taxed, so is the interest from SBI FD!
The penalty to be paid for breaking the FD would depend on the terms of the bank - you would need to check this with the bank.
Jun 15, 2009
I have two queries:
1. Is it possible to deposit money under SCSS for your dependant parents and avail tax benifits.
2. Is there an option of topover, addition of amount in the existing SCSS deposit
Regards
Gurpreet
1. The tax benefit (under section 80C) of investment in SCSS is available only to senior citizens investing in it.
2. Yes, a topover should be possible subject to the upper limit of Rs. 15 Lakhs.
Jun 25, 2009
Thanks
This is true - you can not make more than 1 deposit in SCSS in a month. I am not sure about the logic behind this rule, but well, this is the rule!
Jul 06, 2009
a.Is there is a upper age limit for entry into SCSS? I have been told that one cannot open an SCSS accnt after 65 years of age. Is that true?
b.If husband and wife both earn, then do they individually njoy the ceiling of 15 lakh each? Irrespective of the fact that in husband's accnt wife's name is second (i.e. she is jointly investor) and vice versa. Thanks. Sincerely, Avinash
Jul 06, 2009
Thanks! I am glad I could be of help.
a. There is no upper age limit.
b. Yes, Rs. 15 Lakhs is the limit per person, and it applies individually. This is true even if they are joint holders in each others account.
The whole amount of investment in a joint SCSS account is attributed to the first applicant / depositor only. So, the limit is applicable only for him / her.
PPF- SCCS and Sec 80C:
Section 80C limit is Rs. 1 Lakh per year. However, investment in PPF can not exceed Rs. 70,000 per year. So, that automatically becomes the tax-saving limit for PPF.
There is no separate limit for SCSS - it is as per section 80C.
Jul 15, 2009
In case the senior citizen has to travel during the period when 5 year tenure expires , can the application for extending by 3 years be given couple of months in advance ?
You would need to fill up the prescribed form and submit it to the post office. You can download the form from the article "Post Office Schemes: Downloadable Forms".
You can submit the application form once you are back - you can submit the form for renewal upto one year after the maturity. Irrespective of the date of your application, the extension would be made effective from the date of maturity.
Jul 21, 2009
In the above it is stated that:
"A Senior Citizen Savings Scheme (SCSS) account can also be opened at ICICI Bank. ICICI Bank is the only private bank where an SCSS account can be opened. "
Can you please provide some more information. Whom to contact (in Chennai), or, an online link.
Thanks,
K. Sundaram
Glad you liked the article.
You can get more details from ICICI bank itself. Here's the URL that has some information on this: http://www.icicibank.com/pfsuser/icicibank/investments/scss/scsshomepage.htm
Jul 28, 2009
Yes, it is mandatory to provide the PAN number of a nominee.
However, the nominee is free to provide form 15G (declaration of non-deduction of tax from the amount of interest payable) if the amount becomes due to him / her.
Aug 14, 2009
The overall limit of investment in SCSS is Rs. 15 Lakhs - across accounts.
So, no, you can not open another account with Rs. 10 Lakhs.
Oct 31, 2009
My Father & mother have a number of senior Citizen savings scheme accounts opened over last few years at the local post office at Mumbai. My father is about 90 years old & mother is about 85 years old. Unfortunately my mother had a stroke & has gone in to a coma. she will be unable to sign or write anything at all since she has hardly any conciousness left. Since the savings accounts are in a joint name, what should be done to either close the account or extend the accounts with only my father signing the documents. We wish to extnd some of the acounts which ar maturing now and encash some of the accoutns to meet the funds urgently. The rule speak of only an event of a death but not this kind of incapacity of one joint holder .
Please guide us.
Thanks
N K Mehta
Nov 10, 2009
I checked the same SCSS in SBI at our local branch but they replied, this scheme doesn't exist anymore
Could you please, let me know about SCSS?
Does SCSS still exist in SBI or Post Office? so again I can inquire it thorough valid proof.
Nov 11, 2009
I have a comment and a question.
The rider for retired defence personnel investing in the SCSS is that there is no age criteria for them only on superannuation. For premature retirement, they have to be at least 55 years for age (as is the case for others)
My question is: My wife has recently taken premature retirement from the Armed Forces. As she is not yet 55, she can not invest in SCSS. She plans to invest in MIP mutual funds. If we have a joint savings and linked demat account where I am the first holder and she is the second holder, is there any problem in investing into MIP mutual funds through such an account? Or is it mandatory that she be the first holder?
regards
PKG
You situation is indeed quit unique. I am not really sure of the possible course of action - I think it would be best to consult the post master of the post office where the accounts are located, and act based on it.
Your query puzzles me - I fail to understand how the staff of the post office and SBI can not be aware of such a hugely popular scheme.
Yes, SCSS is very much in force and is available. You can check it out on the postal department's website:
http://www.indiapost.gov.in/seniorcitizen.html
Nov 25, 2009
Also for the investments of Rs 100,000/- is required to pay tax or can be exempted on submission of 15H / 15G forms.
Is it applicable to nominee, if the scheme happens to continue
Nov 28, 2009
The amount would be refunded to the nominee.
On submission of form 15H/G, tax would not be deducted.
You can open an SCSS account at any time. You can have multiple SCSS accounts, but the total can not exceed Rs. 15 Lakhs.
The rate of interest is 9%.
Dec 02, 2009
Is there any way to deposite the total amount of Rs 15,00,000 in parts/monthly say Rs 50,000 per month for 30 months ? or 1,00,000 for 15 months
B) If the wife is below 60 years can the total amount be 30,00,000 in the joint accont ?
A) There is no restriction of investing the whole amount at once.
B) If wife's age is below 60 years, she can be a joint account holder. However, the amount can't be more than Rs. 15 Lakhs, as she can't deposit in SCSS (due to her age).
Dec 11, 2009
What I want to know is
I want to avail full amount of Rs 15 L.
A) Can I open account for 6 L now and then add 6 L say a year after and 3 L after say 18 months ?
Or
B) Do I have to open three acounts at different time
C) Is it allowed to have more than one account by me ?
Please advise
Prakash
Dec 17, 2009
Jan 04, 2010
Feb 14, 2010
both senior citizens. can the withdrawee open other a/c in
scss a/c to avail the maximum limit of rs 1500000/- each
Feb 14, 2010
limit of scss a/c seprately by one self and the spouse?
D B Singh
Feb 14, 2010
Feb 22, 2010
Feb 24, 2010
Mar 02, 2010
What is the tax treatment on Maturity of SCSS ? Whether it is taxable ? Please provide detailed knowledge for that .Moreover what is the tax treatment in case of Premature withdrawl ?
Waiting for your positive response.
Thanking you.
Mar 30, 2010
My mother had made fixed deposit and the interest (2.5 Lks)crossed her income tax exemption limit (1.8 Lks). So she opened the SCSS for amount (75K) to avail 80C benifit.
She have a/c in SBI bank and the given 15G form too. But still their system will deduct 25K (20%-without PAN) as tax from her interest earned from fixed deposits. And the bank asking to file for return from IT.
Is it not possible to the bank that they accept 80C proof and stop their system to deduct tax?
Does my mother need to file IT return to get the amount back ? She does not have PAN card. Is it possible to file return without PAN card?
Regards,
Irshad
Apr 11, 2010
Can the money received as gift by their children be deposited under Senior Citizen Scheme?
Regards.
May 13, 2010
Note: in the name of second holder there is Rs. 1500000 invested
May 20, 2010
can the depositor nominate any "bankers" instead of a person?
If yes, what formalities are to be completed" if no, why. { it is assumed that the depositor has no kids\ no close relatives, or he does not want to nominate his relatives.and he wants to die intestate i.e without will.
thanking you in anticipation
Jul 14, 2010
What is the rule for payment of interest and how can I overcome? Is interest credit is made on the wishes & whims of the person effecting credit throught ECS?
(Follow Me)
It appears from your SCSS article that i cannot take a loan and that the FDR cannot be prematurely cashed - that is after four months.
Thank you. I hope I made myself clear.
Maria