If you are parking the money for a year or little over a year, you may take a look at arbitrage funds. Arbitrage funds look to exploit the price difference of securities between the cash and future market. These schemes are treated as equity schemes for the purpose of taxation. That means if investments are held over a year, they qualify for long-term capital gains tax. Long-term capital gains tax on equity schemes is currently nil. Arbitrage funds offered 6.31 per cent return in the last year.

Investors can also take a look at various debt schemes, depending on their investment horizon. Debt mutual funds are riskier than bank deposits, but they may also offer marginally higher returns. They score on after tax returns if investments are held over three years. Investment in debt funds held over three years qualify for long-term capital gains tax of 20 per cent with indexation. The indexation benefit helps to reduce tax considerably, especially when inflation is high.