Real Return Calculator (post-tax, post-inflation)
What a return is actually worth once tax and inflation are taken off — often far less than the headline rate.
Your numbers
Nothing you type here leaves your device as you work. Saving is the only thing that sends it anywhere, and only when you ask.
My scenarios (0/10)
Snapshots of your inputs, so you can flip between them — “20 years at 9%” against “15 years at 9.5%”. Stored in this browser only, no account needed.
Fill in a few things
Still needed: inflation you assume.
We leave rate assumptions blank on purpose. A pre-filled number would read as our prediction, and nobody can predict a return. Put in whatever you think is realistic — then change it and watch how far the answer moves.
Questions people actually ask
- How can a positive return be a loss?
- A 7% deposit, taxed at 30%, leaves 4.9%. Against 6% inflation that is a real return of about minus 1%. The balance grows in rupees and buys less each year. Nothing has gone wrong — it is what the arithmetic gives.
Where these numbers come from
Every rate this tool uses, its source, and the date a human last checked it against that source.
- Union Budget 2026-27; slab structure unchanged from FY 2025-26 · checked 2026-04-05
- Income-tax Act — standard deduction for salaried taxpayers, new regime · checked 2026-04-05
Salaried taxpayers and pensioners only. Not available against business or freelance income.
- Rebate under s.87A, new regime · checked 2026-04-05
Applies to total income AFTER the standard deduction, which is why a salary of ₹12.75 lakh can still pay nil tax.
- Rebate under s.87A, new regime · checked 2026-04-05
- Surcharge rates, new regime. The 37% band does not apply under the new regime. · checked 2026-04-05
- Deduction against family pension, new regime · checked 2026-04-05
- Old regime slabs, unchanged since FY 2014-15 · checked 2026-04-05
- Standard deduction for salaried taxpayers, old regime · checked 2026-04-05
- Rebate under s.87A, old regime · checked 2026-04-05
- Rebate under s.87A, old regime · checked 2026-04-05
- Surcharge rates, old regime · checked 2026-04-05
- Basic exemption limit, resident senior citizen, old regime · checked 2026-04-05
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