EPF Calculator

What is EPF and EPFO?

The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is a government-backed retirement savings scheme for salaried employees in India, administered by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Any establishment with 20 or more employees must register, and employees earning up to ₹15,000 a month must be enrolled (higher earners can also join). Both you and your employer contribute every month, the balance earns a government-declared rate of interest, and the accumulated corpus is paid out — tax-free in most cases — when you retire or leave the workforce.

UAN — your Universal Account Number

Every member gets a 12-digit Universal Account Number (UAN) that stays the same for life, across every job. When you change employers you simply transfer the old EPF account to the new one under the same UAN, so your savings and interest keep compounding without a break. Through the EPFO member portal or the UMANG app you can check your passbook, update KYC (Aadhaar, PAN, bank), file transfer/withdrawal claims and nominate beneficiaries.

How EPF contributions are split

The contribution is calculated on your basic salary + dearness allowance (DA), not your gross salary:

• Your (employee) share — 12%: the entire amount goes into your EPF account.
• Employer share — 12%: this is split. 8.33% of wages (subject to the ₹15,000 wage ceiling, so a maximum of ₹1,250 a month) is diverted to the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS); the remaining 3.67% is added to your EPF account.

If your basic + DA is above ₹15,000, most employers cap the EPS diversion at ₹1,250 and route the balance of the 12% into EPF. That is why, for higher salaries, more of the employer's money lands in your EPF than the bare 3.67% suggests. The calculator above lets you turn the ceiling on or off.

Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF)

You can choose to contribute more than 12% of your basic + DA — up to 100% — as a Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) top-up. VPF earns the same EPF interest rate and enjoys the same tax treatment, making it one of the safest high-yield debt options available to salaried people. The employer is not obliged to match VPF. Set the "your contribution rate" field above beyond 12% to model VPF.

EPF interest rate

The EPFO's Central Board of Trustees declares the interest rate each financial year. For FY 2024-25 the rate is 8.25% p.a. Interest is computed on the monthly running balance but credited to your account once a year. Because it compounds, small monthly contributions grow substantially over a full career — the "interest earned" figure in the calculator often rivals or exceeds the total you and your employer put in.

Tax treatment of EPF

EPF is one of the few instruments with EEE (Exempt-Exempt-Exempt) status when withdrawn after five years of continuous service:

• Contribution: your share qualifies for a deduction under Section 80C (up to ₹1.5 lakh a year) — available only under the old tax regime.
• Interest: generally tax-free, but interest on your own contributions exceeding ₹2.5 lakh in a year (₹5 lakh where the employer makes no contribution) is taxable in your hands. Employer contributions to EPF + NPS + superannuation above ₹7.5 lakh a year are also taxable as a perquisite.
• Withdrawal: fully exempt after 5 years of continuous service. If withdrawn earlier, the amount becomes taxable and TDS under Section 192A applies (10% if PAN is provided; higher without PAN). No TDS if the taxable withdrawal is below ₹50,000, or you can submit Form 15G/15H if your income is below the taxable limit.

Withdrawal and partial advances

You can take partial withdrawals (advances) without closing the account for specific needs — buying or constructing a house, home-loan repayment, medical treatment, marriage, higher education, or a period of unemployment. Each has its own eligibility (minimum years of service and a cap on the amount). Full withdrawal (settlement) is permitted on retirement, or after two months of continuous unemployment. Whenever possible, transfer rather than withdraw when you switch jobs, so the corpus keeps compounding and stays tax-free.

EPF vs PPF vs NPS

EPF is linked to salaried employment, offers a fixed government-declared return and includes an employer match plus a pension (EPS). PPF is open to everyone, has a 15-year lock-in and a declared rate, but no employer contribution. NPS is market-linked (equity + debt), can deliver higher long-run returns and gives an extra ₹50,000 deduction under Section 80CCD(1B), but a portion must be used to buy an annuity at maturity. Many people use all three together. Compare your NPS corpus with the NPS Calculator.

How this EPF calculator works

Enter your monthly basic + DA, your current and retirement age, an expected annual salary increase, the interest rate, and optionally your existing EPF balance. Each month the calculator adds your contribution and the employer's EPF share, grows the balance at the monthly interest rate, and steps up your salary every year by the increase percentage. It then splits the final corpus into how much was contributed versus how much is interest, and shows the EPS pension portion separately.