The same money in a deposit and in a fund, compared after tax
Estimates only, not financial advice. What you type stays on your device. Checked against sources on 23 Oct 2026.A deposit and a fund cannot be compared on headline returns, because tax treats them quite differently. Putting the same money into both and taxing each correctly is the only honest comparison, and at a 30 per cent slab the gap is often narrower than expected.
Interest from a deposit is taxed at your slab rate of 30%, plus 4% cess, in the year it is earned.
Equity fund: 12.5% on long-term gains above 125000 in the year, plus 4% cess.
Surcharge is not applied: it starts above 50,00,000 of total income and this page does not ask for that. Exit loads, TDS timing and paying FD tax each year rather than at the end are also left out.
Estimates for information only, not financial advice. Capital gains rates in force from 23 Jul 2024, reviewed on 18 Oct 2026. Source: CBDT FAQ on the capital gains regime, Union Budget 2024-25, and the Income Tax Department help pages.
| End of year | Put in so far | Fixed deposit | Mutual fund (assumed) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ₹5,00,000 | ₹5,35,930 | ₹5,60,000 | ₹24,070 |
| 2 | ₹5,00,000 | ₹5,74,441 | ₹6,27,200 | ₹52,759 |
| 3 | ₹5,00,000 | ₹6,15,720 | ₹7,02,464 | ₹86,744 |
| 4 | ₹5,00,000 | ₹6,59,965 | ₹7,86,760 | ₹1,26,795 |
| 5 | ₹5,00,000 | ₹7,07,389 | ₹8,81,171 | ₹1,73,782 |
| After tax at the end | ₹5,00,000 | ₹6,42,684 | ₹8,47,869 | ₹2,05,185 |
Rates and rules read from the sources listed on this page (the earliest on 23 Oct 2026); they may have changed since.
Under "How you would invest" choose One amount or Every month, then set the amount.
Set "For how long" and the "FD rate your bank quotes".
Set the "Return you are assuming" for the fund and pick the Kind of fund, Equity or Debt.
Choose Your income tax slab, since FD interest and debt fund gains are taxed at it.
Read which side leaves you more after tax, and open Year by year to see both grow.
This page puts the same money into a fixed deposit and into a mutual fund for the same period, then takes the tax off both, so you compare what you would actually keep.
The FD rate is contractual: the bank prints it on the receipt and has to pay it. The fund return is an assumption you type in. Nobody can promise it, and a fund can end below what you put in. Treat the fund column as "what if", never as a forecast.
Surcharge is not applied, because this page does not ask for your total income. Exit loads and TDS timing are outside the model. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Sources: CBDT FAQ on the capital gains regime from the Union Budget 2024-25 (pib.gov.in), Income Tax Department help pages (incometax.gov.in), and sections 196, 198 and 76 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Reviewed on 18 October 2026. Estimates only, not financial advice.
Deposits and funds answer different questions. A fixed deposit pays a rate the bank has promised, so the maturity amount is known in advance. A fund pays whatever the market gives, which can be more than you assumed or a loss. This page shows both after tax, but only the deposit figure is one anyone can promise.
Interest from a deposit is income from other sources and is taxed at your slab rate, plus 4% cess, in the year it is earned. The bank deducts TDS as the interest is credited and the rest is settled in your return. There is no special lower rate and no exemption for the first slice of interest.
A gain on units held more than twelve months is long-term and taxed at 12.5%, on the amount above 1,25,000 of long-term gains in the year. A gain on units held twelve months or less is short-term and taxed at 20%. Cess of 4% sits on top. These rates apply to transfers made on or after 23 July 2024.
No. For units bought on or after 1 April 2023 the whole gain on a specified mutual fund is taxed at your slab rate, however long you hold it, exactly like FD interest. The old indexation benefit is gone, so the comparison now comes down to the return and how certain it is.
Every SIP instalment is a separate purchase with its own holding period, so in a ten-year plan the last twelve instalments are still short-term when you redeem. This page works that out instalment by instalment. Recurring deposit interest is simply added to your income at your slab rate.
No. The fund return is a figure you type in as an assumption, and the page says so next to it. Only the FD rate is contractual. Change the assumed return to a lower number and see what happens: that is the most useful thing this page does.
Rates and rules change; check the source before you rely on a figure.
Still stuck? Ask about FD vs Mutual Fund Calculator and anybody who knows can answer. No account needed.
Same job, other tools: FD Calculator for Senior Citizens – Senior citizen FD interest, monthly or quarterly, with the extra rate added · FD Quarterly Payout Calculator – Interest a fixed deposit pays every quarter, and in a year · Step-up SIP Calculator – See how raising your SIP every year changes the final corpus.
On the related tools: ROI Calculator – Return on investment as a total percentage and as a yearly (annualised) rate.
Also works as: Mutual Fund Returns After Tax.
In the collection Investment Calculators.