The last date for making tax-saver investments for the financial year 2022-23 – March 31 – is nearly here. Tax-payers who have not completed the process have no time to lose. However, do not lose track of the lock-in periods – when you cannot withdraw money – of tax-saver avenues in a hurry to invest. All section 80C instruments come with lock-in or maturity periods. Equity-linked saving schemes (ELSS), which are diversified mutual funds, have the shortest lock-in period of three years. In case of tax-saver fixed deposits, you cannot access your money for five years. National Savings Certificates (NSC) have tenures of five years. Public provident fund (PPF) carries a lengthy maturity period of 15 years.