The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is a savings scheme introduced under the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Act, 1952. It is administered and managed by the Central Board of Trustees that consists of representatives from three parties, namely, the government, the employers and the employees. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) assists this board in its activities. EPFO works under the direct jurisdiction of the government and is managed through the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
EPF Withdrawal Rules
Employees’ Provident Fund is an investment scheme created for the purpose of retirement. Withdrawal should be prevented until and unless it is an emergency. However, in case a member wants to withdraw funds from his EPF account, he should keep the following EPF withdrawal rules in mind-
a) Provident Fund that is withdrawn within 5 years of account opening is taxable
b) It’s not necessary to withdraw provident fund when you change your employer as PF can easily be transferred to a new account through the online process
Also Read: How to Transfer PF Funds Easily to another PF Account Online
c) As per the rules, one cannot withdraw Provident Fund balance of a job where you are currently employed
d) Loan (Partial withdrawal) can be availed on employee provident fund
Considering the early withdrawals by the employees, the Government of India made some amendments to employee provident fund in 2016. Here are the main amendments to EPF withdrawal rules:
a) 90 % of the EPF balance can be withdrawn after the age of 54 years
b) After leaving a job, a person can withdraw 75% of the provident fund balance if he remains unemployed for 1 month and the remaining 25% after the second month of unemployment
EPF withdrawal before 5 years of continuous service attracts TDS on the withdrawal amount. However, if the withdrawal amount is less than ₹ 50,000, no TDS is deducted. In case you want to withdraw your funds before 5 years of service, you should keep the following EPF withdrawal rules in mind-
EPF Withdrawal Purpose
| Purpose | Eligibility | Limit |
| Medical Emergency for member/spouse/parent/children | Any PF Member | Lesser one of employee’s share plus interest or 6 times of the monthly salary |
| Construction/Purchase of New House | Employee must have served min 5 years | 90% of the PF Balance |
| Renovation of House | Can be withdrawn after 5 years from the construction of house | 12 times of the employee’s monthly salary |
| Repayment of Home Loan | Employee must have served for min 3 years | 90% of the PF Balance |
| Wedding of member/sibling/children | Employee must have served for min 7 years | 50% of employee’s share plus interest |
Situations for EPF Withdrawal
The situations under which you can go ahead and withdraw money from your EPF while you are still working
For Medical Purposes:
An employee is allowed to withdraw employee’s share with interest or six times the monthly salary (whichever is lower) from the provident fund for the purpose of medical treatment
This withdrawal is applicable for medical treatments of self, spouse, children, and parents
There is no lock-in period or minimum service period for this type of withdrawal
For Repaying Home Loan:
For the purpose of repaying the outstanding home loan, the PF member is allowed to withdraw up to 90% of the corpus if the house is registered in his or her name or held jointly
However, to withdraw the amount, at least 3 years of complete service is required
For Wedding:
At least 7 years of service must be completed in order to be eligible for the withdrawal
50% of the employee’s contribution with interest can be withdrawn
An employee can withdraw funds for his own, siblings or child’s marriage
For Renovating and Reconstructing a House:
The employee can withdraw funds from his EPF account for the purpose of renovation and reconstruction
The house should be held in his/her name or held jointly with the spouse
The employee must complete at least 5 years of total service
The member can withdraw 12 times his monthly salary from his Provident fund account
For Purchasing or constructing a New House:
A PF member can withdraw a partial amount from his employee provident fund for the purpose of purchasing a plot and/or constructing it
The property should be registered in his or her name or held jointly with the spouse
An employee should have completed a minimum of 5 years of total service
24 times of the monthly salary for purchasing a plot/36 times of the monthly salary for purchasing or constructing a house or the cost of the property or the total of employee’s and his employer’s share along with the interest amount (whichever is less) can be withdrawn
Withdrawal is allowed only after completing 5 years of service
Withdrawal for the purpose of purchasing a plot and constructing it can be done only once in the entire service tenure
Retirement:
A person can withdraw his or her entire provident fund corpus after completing 58 years of age
The employee is allowed to withdraw up to 90% of the provident fund balance
Unemployment:
A person can withdraw 75% of his or her provident fund if he/she is unemployed for more than a month
For unemployment of more than 2 months, remaining 25% of the corpus can be withdrawn
Types of PF Withdrawals
EPF Subscribers can make three different types of withdrawals on the EPFO member portal. They are:
a) PF final settlement
b) PF partial withdrawal
c) Pension withdrawal benefit
EPF Subscribers can make the above-listed withdrawals online by login to EPFO member portal if they have seeded their Aadhaar card and bank details with their UAN.
EPF Withdrawal before 5 years of Service
If you withdraw from EPF before completing 5 years of continuous service, TDS will be deducted. In calculating 5 years of service, your tenure with the previous employer is also included. If you transfer your EPF balance from the old employer to a new employer and your total employment is 5 years or more, no TDS is deducted. Do remember that you must calculate the exact 5 years, there is no grace if you are short by a few days.
If employee withdraws amount more than or equal to Rs. 50000/-, with service less than 5 years, then TDS is deducted @ 10% on EPF balance if if Form-15G/15H is not submitted but PAN is submitted. If PAN is not provided TDS shall be deducted at highest slab rate of 34.608%.
Withdrawal after Resigned or Retirement
There is generally a 2 month waiting period after resignation after which you can opt to withdraw your PF money. Complete Provident Fund (PF) money can be withdrawn when an individual retires from employment and remains unemployed for more than 2 months.
As per the EPF Act, individuals must retire once they reach 58 years of age to claim the final settlement of PF. Individuals will receive their contribution and the employer’s contribution made towards EPF along with the interest that has been generated. Depending on the number of years of service, the employee is also eligible to get the pension amount that has been made towards the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS).
Requirements for PF Withdrawal
To ensure the process of making a withdrawal is seamless, subscribers have to meet the requirements that are listed below, if they wish to carry out a withdrawal without the attestation of their employer.
a) Subscribers have to ensure that their UAN is active and their mobile number is seeded with their PF account.
b) The PF member should also seed his/her Aadhaar card details with their PF account.
c) The member’s bank account details and the bank’s IFSC code has to be integrated as well.
d) For final settlements prior to completion of 5 years in the EPF scheme, the member will be required to seed his/her PAN details.
Taxation on EPF Withdrawal
TDS is deducted on withdrawal before completing 5 years of service. TDS is deducted at a rate of 10% on withdrawal if PAN is furnished and 34.608% if PAN is not furnished. However, if the withdrawal amount is less than ₹ 50,000, no TDS is deducted
However, TDS is not applicable to some of the below cases-
a) TDS rule is not applied when termination of your service is out of your control. Company lockouts, retrenchments and employee layoffs etc. could be some of the reasons
b) TDS is not applicable when the service cannot be continued due to some serious medical condition such as physical disability or mental disability
To avoid TDS on PF Withdrawal
The tax burden is heavy on early withdrawals of EPF. Here is how you can avoid it-
i) Do not withdraw your EPF corpus when changing your job. Instead, transfer the EPF account to a new one
ii) Do not withdraw EPF when you are on a career break. You can earn interest on your PF balance for up to 3 years without any contribution. However, the interest earned during this period is taxable
iii) Withdrawal of funds after 5 years of service attract no TDS