Various Tax saving instruments at a glance...

Below mentioned table will help you compare the various tax saving investment options at a glance..

Investment options	Investment horizon	Returns	Min/ Maxm investment	Income on investment	Liquidity
Bank 5 yr Tax saving FD	Medium	Fixed	Varies	Taxable	No
Life Insurance	Long	Market linked	Varies	Tax Exempt	Moderate
Public provident fund	Long	Fixed	500-70000	Tax Exempt	Low
Equity linked saving scheme	Short- Medium	Market Linked	Varies with product	Tax Exempt	moderate
National Saving certificate	medium	Fixed	100- No limit	Taxable	No
Post office time Deposits	Medium	Fixed	200- no upper limit	Taxable	No

While all the mentioned factors are important, the taxation treatment at the time of the maturity is particularly important because if you end up with an investment in which the maturity amount is taxable, the amount of tax paid at that time could very well wipe out the tax saved at the time of investment.