EPFO: How Much Fund Can You Withdraw? Here Are Different Scenarios
Advance EPF withdrawals are allowed only under specific conditions to meet expenses for some emergencies or life events.
Planning for retirement is one of the most important aspects of a financially secure future. This is necessary to ensure that you don’t face any financial hardships in your retirement years, when you may not have a regular source of income. One of the most important government schemes is the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).
It is a savings scheme where both the employer and the employee make a fixed and equal contribution monthly to create a retirement corpus. Since it is a retirement benefit scheme, typically, funds in an EPF account are meant to be withdrawn only after retirement.
However, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allows EPF subscribers to make withdrawals before retirement in certain cases. How much you can withdraw depends on your circumstances and the reason you want to make the withdrawal.
Let’s take a look at how much withdrawal is allowed in different scenarios.
EPF Withdrawal: Eligibility And Limits
1. Retirement And Unemployment
An EPF subscriber can withdraw the entire PF corpus upon retirement. In case of unemployment for more than one month, an individual can withdraw up to 75% of the PF corpus. On remaining unemployed for two months, the full amount can also be withdrawn.
2. Medical Treatment
You can withdraw up to six times your monthly basic pay if you need to fund medical treatment for yourself or your spouse, children, or parents.
3. Education
PF account holders with seven years of service can withdraw up to 50% of their contribution to the corpus for meeting the expenses of their or their children’s education.
4. Marriage
Employees who have completed seven years of service can withdraw a maximum of 50% of their contribution to the corpus to meet the expenses of their marriage, or the marriage of their children, or siblings. However, the employee must have completed 7 years of continuous service to be eligible for this advance withdrawal.
5. Building A House Or Buying Land
If you have completed five years of service, then you can withdraw up to 36 times your monthly basic salary combined with the dearness allowance for constructing a house. In the case of the purchase of land, you are allowed to withdraw up to 24 times the monthly basic salary added to the dearness allowance.
6. Repayment Of Home Loan
When it comes to repaying home loans, employees with ten years of service can withdraw the least of either - up to 36 times their monthly basic salary combined with dearness allowance, or total PF corpus, or the total principal and interest outstanding on the loan.
7. Home Renovation
For home renovation, employees with five years of service can withdraw the least of either - up to 12 times their monthly basic salary plus dearness allowance, or the employee’s contribution to the corpus along with the interest, or the total cost of renovation.
8. Partial Withdrawal After Age Of 54
Upon reaching the age of 54, an employee can withdraw up to 90% of the PF corpus if they are going to retire within one year.
To conclude, the amount of PF that you can withdraw can vary according to your eligibility. In some cases, you can make a complete withdrawal, while in others, a partial withdrawal up to a certain limit is allowed. Once you apply for withdrawal, it can take 15 to 20 days for the claim to be settled.
