CreditLoanCalculator.com

Sources & References Policy

Every formula, rate and statutory limit used by a CreditLoanCalculator.com tool comes from a primary source — a regulator, scheme operator, standards body or recognised textbook. We do not cite aggregator blogs, unattributed forum posts or AI-generated summaries. This page documents the source library we draw from.

1. Our sourcing principles

  • Primary only. If a regulator or scheme operator publishes the figure, we use their publication — not a third-party summary of it.
  • Latest published. Statutory rates are updated when the issuing body publishes a change. Quarterly small-savings rates are reviewed every quarter.
  • Cross-checked. Where two primary sources exist (e.g. a statute and the operator's published implementation), we reconcile both before publishing.
  • Disclosed. Each calculator's reference section names the source it relied on so you can audit our math.
  • Independent. We accept no payment, sponsorship or product seeding from any source listed below.

2. Government & official sources

India

  • Ministry of Finance — quarterly small-savings notifications (PPF, SCSS, NSC, MIS, KVP, SSY).
  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — repo rate, bank lending norms, EMI computation guidance.
  • Income Tax Department / CBDT — slab rates, Section 80C / 24(b) / 10(13A) (HRA) rules.
  • EPFO — EPF contribution rates, wage ceiling, pension formula.
  • NPS Trust & PFRDA — NPS contribution rules, annuity options.
  • India Post — PORD, POMIS, POTD and SSY interest computation.
  • IRDAI — insurance product regulations, mortality and surrender rules.
  • SEBI & AMFI — mutual-fund computation conventions (NAV, XIRR, expense ratio).

United States

  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — federal tax brackets, standard deduction, IRA / 401(k) / HSA limits.
  • Social Security Administration — benefit and wage-base formulas.
  • Federal Reserve & CFPB — APR/APY disclosure rules, mortgage amortisation guidance.

United Kingdom

  • HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) — income tax bands, National Insurance, ISA / pension allowances.
  • Bank of England — base rate.
  • FCA — consumer credit and mortgage disclosure rules.

Canada & Australia

  • Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) — federal/provincial tax, RRSP and TFSA contribution limits.
  • Australian Taxation Office (ATO) — income tax, superannuation rules.

3. Financial references

  • Bank rate cards — published FD, RD, home-loan, personal-loan and auto-loan rates from SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, PNB, BoB and Kotak (reviewed at least twice a year).
  • Insurer product documents — LIC, HDFC Life, ICICI Prudential, SBI Life, Max Life, Tata AIA, Bajaj Allianz benefit illustrations and brochures.
  • AMC fact sheets — for SIP, SWP, lump-sum, CAGR and XIRR computation conventions.
  • Stock exchange documentation — NSE, BSE, NYSE, LSE for trading-cost and dividend conventions.

4. Educational & standards references

  • Financial mathematics textbooks of record — Brealey/Myers Principles of Corporate Finance, Bodie/Kane/Marcus Investments, Hull Options, Futures and Other Derivatives — for time-value-of-money, NPV, IRR, CAGR, XIRR derivations.
  • CFA Institute curriculum — for retirement, withdrawal-rate and portfolio-return computation conventions.
  • Trinity Study (Cooley, Hubbard & Walz, 1998) and updates — basis for the 4% safe-withdrawal rate used in our FIRE tools.
  • ISO 80000 — units and quantities.
  • WHO — BMI categories and adult-health reference ranges.

5. Sources we do NOT cite

  • Unattributed blog posts, content farms or SEO aggregators.
  • Generative AI outputs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) without an underlying verifiable source.
  • Marketing pages of third-party brokers or affiliates.
  • Cached or unverifiable versions of regulatory documents.

6. How sources flow into a calculator

  1. A reviewer locates the formula or rate in a primary source listed above.
  2. The source is recorded with the calculator's compute spec and surfaced in the page's reference section.
  3. When the source publishes an update, the rate is changed in a migration; the migration history acts as our change log.
  4. The same primary sources are referenced in our blog guides — see, for example, our coverage linked from the EMI Calculator, SIP Calculator, PPF Calculator, FIRE Calculator and Loan Calculator.

7. Reporting a source issue

If you believe we have cited an out-of-date or incorrect source, email support@creditloancalculator.com with the calculator URL, the source you'd like us to verify against and a link to the current official publication. We acknowledge source reports within 2 business days. See also our Editorial Policy and Calculator Methodology.