Want to continue saving tax by investing in PPF, NPS, SSY? Do this before March 31, 2022

Simply put, no. Even if you opt for the new income tax regime, you must ensure that you have deposited the minimum contribution required to keep the account active. Under the old regime, taxpayers are by default required to fulfil this condition.

Given below are the minimum contributions you need to invest in tax saving schemes- PPF, NPS and SSY, to keep them active and what happens if you do not do so. Also note that the minimum limits are subject to regular change, as prescribed by the respective regulators.

The minimum annual contribution for PPF accounts in a financial year is Rs 500 and the last date to make this contribution for the current financial year is March 31, 2022. If you make the deposit via a local cheque or draft , then the date of realisation of the amount will be treated as the date of deposit. If you fail to make the contribution by this date, you will bear a penalty of Rs 50 for each year you fail to make the contribution along with an arrear subscription of Rs 500 per year.

Not making the minimum deposit in an FY deems your PPF account as discontinued. Your account will thus not be entitled to the facility of obtaining a loan or making partial withdrawals unless revived. The account can be revived before the end of its original maturity date. It cannot be revived after maturity, nor can it be closed before maturity. Added to this, a discontinued account cannot be extended.

The PPF subscriber will get back the amount in the account only after the expiry of the maturity period of 15 years along with interest which will continue to be added each year (even in a discontinued account) on the balance at a rate fixed from time to time.

For Tier-I NPS account holders, it is mandatory to make a minimum contribution of Rs 1,000 in a financial year, as per current rules otherwise the account will become dormant. To revive the dormant account, you will have to pay a penalty of Rs 100 every year along with minimum contributions. Point-of-Presence (POP) charges will also be added for unfreezing the NPS account.

If one also has a Tier II NPS account (where no lock-in of funds is required), then along with the Tier-I account, the Tier-II account will also automatically get frozen, even though Tier II has no minimum contribution requirements.

To keep the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana account active, a minimum of Rs 250 must be deposited in a financial year. If the contribution is not made, the account will be treated as a defaulted account. A defaulted account can be regularised before the completion of 15 years from the date of opening. To regularise, you need to pay a minimum contribution of Rs 250 with a penalty of Rs 50 per defaulted year.