NSC, i.e. National Savings Certificate Scheme, is a fixed-income investment scheme backed by the government of India. The savings bond is suitable for small and medium-income investors to save tax while earning returns. This is a secure and low-risk product.
How to buy NSC?
- Visit the nearest Post Office branch and submit the duly filled NSC application form.
- Attach self-attested copies of the documents and proofs as required by the Post Office. Carry the original documents as well for verification.
- Make the payment of your investment in the form of cash, cheque, or demand draft.
- Upon processing your application, an acknowledgment of the same will be provided marking the initiation of your NSC account.
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Benefits of National Savings Certificate Scheme
- At present, the scheme is getting 5.9% interest annually. Under this scheme, you can get a tax exemption of Rs 1.5 lakh annually under Section 80C of Income Tax.
- NSC comes with a lock-in period of 5 years, i.e. it cannot be withdrawn before maturity.
- You can invest as small as Rs. 100 as an initial investment with no maximum limit.
- NSC certificates are accepted as collateral or security for secured loans in Banks and NBFCs. In such a case, a transfer stamp is put on the certificate and transferred to the bank while disbursing loans.
- Interest earned gets compounded annually and reinvested by default but will be payable only at maturity.
- The investor can nominate any family member (even a minor) so that they can inherit it in the case of an unfortunate event of the investor’s demise.
- The investor will receive the entire corpus value on maturity. As there is no TDS on NSC payouts, the subscriber should pay the applicable tax on it while filing his Income tax returns or paying his advance tax.
- Generally, one cannot exit the scheme early except on the death of an investor, or on a court order, or on forfeiture by a pledgee who is a Gazetted Government Officer for it.
