The maturity period of the Public Provident Fund (PPF) is 15 years. But it is not that after 15 years you have to withdraw your money and close the account. It is not necessary for the depositor to close the account. You can extend it indefinitely in 5-5 years. After 15 years you can extend your account in two ways.
If after the maturity of the account, you can extend your account for 5 years. To increase the PPF account, you have to submit the form within a year. For this, the application has to be made one year before the completion of maturity. You can also withdraw money if needed during these 5 years.
The PPF account remains active even after maturity. If you do not choose the above option, then automatically your PPF maturity date gets extended for 5 years. It does not require any paperwork. In this, you will not even need to make any kind of contribution and you keep getting interested. You can invest for any number of years in both modes.
PPF comes under the category of EEE. That is, you get the benefit of tax exemption on the entire investment made in the scheme. Also, no tax has to be paid on the interest earned and the entire amount of investment in this scheme. In this, under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, the benefit of tax exemption can be taken on investments up to Rs 1.5 lakh annually.
A PPF account can be opened in a post office or bank by any other person in his own name and on behalf of the minor. However, as per the rules, a PPF account cannot be opened in the name of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF).
