PF Withdrawal Eligibility

You cannot make a full PF withdrawal while employed. However, you can take a PF advance/partial withdrawal for specific purposes like medical emergency, housing, marriage or education while still in service, subject to the conditions and limits applicable to each purpose.

PF withdrawal is tax-free if you have completed 5 years of continuous service (including service across different employers if you transferred the PF). If you withdraw before 5 years, the employer's contribution and interest become taxable. TDS at 10% (or 30% if PAN is not provided) is deducted on withdrawals above ₹50,000 before 5 years.

You should transfer your PF to the new employer's trust/EPFO account using the online transfer facility on the EPFO member portal. Do not withdraw unless necessary — keeping the PF invested builds a larger retirement corpus and protects your 5-year service continuity for tax purposes.

EPF (Employee Provident Fund) is the savings component — both employer and employee contribute 12% each of basic+DA, though the employer's 12% is split: 8.33% goes to EPS and 3.67% to EPF. EPS (Employee Pension Scheme) builds a pension corpus. On retirement at 58, if you have 10+ years service you are eligible for a monthly pension from EPS.

From 2023, EPF accounts continue to earn interest even after the employee stops contributing (previously, inactive accounts stopped earning interest after 3 years). However, if the account is inoperative (no contribution for 3+ years) and you have reached 58, the account stops earning interest. Claims for inactive accounts require employer verification.