PF Withdrawal Form : Claming PF amount

Provident Fund

Provident Fund or PF, in short, has been a savings and social security scheme introduced for the workforce of India. This scheme was introduced under the provisions of Employee’s Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Act, 1952. It is also called EPF or Employee’s Provident Fund. Any organization which is employing more than 20 individuals have to mandatorily obtain an EPF registration. Essentially, all employees of an organization make a contribution towards the EPF which is deducted from their salary. This figure is generally 12% of the basic salary as prescribed in the salary slip format. This provident fund is basically very helpful in times of unemployment and retirement for individuals. You can withdraw the provident fund in times of unemployment or retirement using a pf withdrawal form.

In the first month of unemployment, up to 75% of provident fund amount can be withdrawn and the rest of the 25% of the amount can be withdrawn from the second month onwards. The claim for withdrawal of the pf amount can be made online via the EPF withdrawal form online. The Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) oversees the matters related to the  Provident Fund management. Online claim for pf withdrawal and checking details related to the same can be done on the UAN Member Portal established by the EPFO. The online claim can only be availed if the employee has obtained.

PF is basically different from Income Tax as Income Tax can be re-claimed after filing Income Tax Return

PF Withdrawal

When can you withdraw the EPF?

A particular employee can choose to withdraw the provident fund partially or completely. The provident fund comes in handy when an individual is unemployed for a long spell of time or has chosen to retire. Like mentioned before 75% -25% model of withdrawing PF is present for the first 2months of being unemployed.

Here are two conditions under which the PF amount can be fully withdrawn:

• Individual retires from employment
• The individual has been unemployed for a time period of 2 months or greater than 2 months.

The time period of unemployment extending over 2 months has to be certified by a gazetted officer. In addition to this, withdrawal of the PF amount while switching over jobs and being unemployed for less than 2 months will be treated as an illegal activity.

Here are the circumstances under which partial PF withdrawal can be done.

PF withdrawal Reasons

In addition to these,  there are a few conditions in which partial withdrawal can be done via the pf withdrawal form.

•   Closure/ Lockout of the factory/ place of employment
• Family member falling ill
• Natural Calamities
• Equipment Purchase by the physically handicapped
• Investment in Varishta Pension Bima Yojana
• Electricity cut in the establishment

PF Withdrawal Procedure

Speaking broadly, there are two ways to claim the Provident Fund.

• Physical Application Submission (Offline PF withdrawal) (Fill up PF withdrawal forms)
• Online PF withdrawal

 Physical Application: PF Withdrawal Form (s)

 PF Claim Form 19

The PF withdrawal form 19 is basically for complete withdrawal and Final Settlement. This form is generally used in cases to claim the entire PF contribution amount at the time of retirement and hence it has been appropriately named “Final settlement “.Within this form, you will need to disclose details like sate of leaving, the reason of leaving, date of leaving services, PAN, UAN, and Aadhar Number, bank account details, Postal address etc.

PF claim form 19 can also be availed by PF account holders who do not possess a UAN number. In case the UAN number is not available or not applied for account holder can quote their PF account number in order claim their PF contribution.

In addition to this, The PF claim 19 form should be attested by the employer, a gazetted officer or any other appropriate authority.

Form 31 EPF Claim

The pf Claim form 31 is for Advance/ Partial withdrawal. This pf withdrawal form is generally used to withdraw a certain amount of the pf corpus to meet emergency situations needs in the employment time. If the grounds for withdrawal is unemployment this form can be used for that as well. The amount claimed will depend upon the allowable limit and also upon the funds that are already deposited in the EPF account of the employee/individual.

FORM 10C

This form is used to claim the pension amount. Therefore, if you are quoting unemployment as grounds for the withdrawal of the provident fund, both the form 31 as well as the form 10 C.   The pension amount which is disbursed to pensioners is basically under the regulations of the Employee’s Pension Scheme, 1950. The PF amount, however, is under the regulations of the Employee’s Provident Fund Scheme, 1952. Therefore, in order to avail both pensions as well as provident fund, you will have to file two separate forms.

Composite Claim Form

The composite claim form serves the functions of three forms Form 19, Form 31, Form 10C. The composite claim form (Aadhar) can be submitted to the local EPFO office without the attestation of any authority. The government has also done away with the furnishing of various details for aadhar and UAN linked account holders. They can self certify the details. However, Non-aadhar account holders have to produce the documents mentioned below.

TDS on PF Withdrawal

Once the PF claim application is submitted, an individual can check the status of pf claim on the Umang app or the PF website or UAN member portal. When the PF claim is being processed, TDS will be deducted. Learn More about TDS

If the service of the employee is less than 5 years a 10% TDS rate is levied IFF the account holder has furnished a PAN card. Otherwise, TDS is charged as 34.6%. If the total PF amount is less than Rs. 50,000 no TDS will be levied.

In addition to this, EPF withdrawal is exempted from tax if withdrawn after a service period of 5 years. However, if the withdrawal is made before the completion of 5 years, the member has to pay tax on the withdrawn amount. If the member furnishes Form 15G/H, no TDS is deducted at the time of withdrawal.

Online PF Withdrawal

The procedure for claiming the PF contribution online is a very simple step-by-step procedure. Let’s see the procedure in detail.

Step 1: Sign in to the UAN Member Portal with your login credentials. UAN and Password and enter the captcha.

Step 2:  Go ahead and click the Online Services tab and select the “Claim (FORM-31, 19 & 10C )”

Step 3:  As soon as you click, your member details will be in front of you. Here, you will have to enter the last 4idigits of your bank account and click “Verify ” button

Step 4: You will need to sign a Certificate of Undertaking which has terms and conditions which will be presented to you. Click yes to agree and proceed with pf withdrawal procedure.

Step 5: Select the “Proceed for Online Claim ” option

Step 6: Select the “PF Advance (Form 31)” to withdraw the pf contribution.

Step 7: A new window will open asking the reason/ purpouse for the withdrawal of PF funds. The options you are not eligible for will be marked in red. Along with this, you will be asked the amount you want to withdraw,  and the employee’s address.

Step 8: Certify and submit your application

Step 9: Submit scanned documents

Step 10: Employer will approve the withdrawal request after the money will be deducted from your EPF account and will be transferred to the bank account you have specified.

Benefits of EPF Withdrawal Online

Making an online EPF withdrawal claim has a number of benefits, such as –

• Hassle-free Withdrawal- Online claim saves you from the hassle of visiting the PF office in person and standing in long queues. You just need to fill the forms online from the comfort of your home.
• Reduced Processing Time- With online claims, the amount will be processed and credited into your bank account within 15-20 days of the application. The government plans to further reduce the processing time.
• No need to visit the previous employer for verification- Unlike offline claim wherein you have to get your documents attested by the employer, online claims verification is done automatically. This is especially helpful for people who have moved to a new city as it will save them from the trouble of mailing the documents or travelling long distances.

 

PF Withdrawal Documents Required (Offline Non-Aadhar)

To initiate PF withdrawal, the employee must submit the PF withdrawal application at the concerned EPFO office. Along with the PF withdrawal application, the employee must also submit the following supporting documents:

• PF withdrawal for housing  (Purchase of site /Loan repayment / Purchase /Construction )loan or purchase of site/house/flat or for construction or renovation of houses or repayment of housing loan.
  • New Declaration Form/Utilization Certificate is required.
• Factory  Closure/Lockout
  • No documents.
• Illness of a Family Member/ Individual.
  • Doctor’s Certificate and Certificate stating ESIC facility are unavailable.
• Marriage (Self; Brother/Sister; Son/Daughter).
  • Marriage Card is required.
• Purchase of equipment by physically handicapped.
  • Medical Certificate stating the nature of physical limitations
• Investment in Varistha Pension Bima Yojana
  • 90% of the total PF balance can be transferred to LIC.