EPF Balance Check — PF Passbook, Rate & Tax Rules

Your 12-digit UAN is usually printed on your salary slip. Otherwise ask your HR/payroll team, or use the "Know Your UAN" option on the EPFO member portal by entering your Aadhaar or PAN and mobile number for an OTP. After Aadhaar-UAN linkage you can also SMS "EPFOHO UAN" to 7738299899.

Log in at unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in with your UAN and password, click View Passbook, select the establishment (member ID) if you have more than one, and download the PDF. It shows month-wise employee contribution (12%), employer contribution (3.67% EPF + 8.33% EPS) and interest credited.

A missing month usually means your employer has not filed the ECR (Electronic Challan cum Return), has filed it but not made payment, or EPFO is still processing the credit (typically 15–20 days after the employer deposits). If credits are consistently missing, raise it with your employer first, then with EPFO.

The EPF interest rate for FY 2025-26 is 8.25% per annum. It was approved at the 239th meeting of the EPFO Central Board of Trustees and ratified by the Ministry of Finance, keeping the rate at 8.25% for the third consecutive year (same as 2024-25 and 2023-24). Interest is calculated on the monthly running balance but credited to your account at the end of the financial year.

EPFO credits interest once a year, usually after the rate is formally ratified — often a few months into the new financial year. It is calculated on your monthly running balance through the year and then posted as a single credit, so your passbook may show contributions each month but the interest line only after year-end processing.

You contribute 12% of basic + DA, all of which goes to your EPF account. Your employer also contributes 12%, but that is split: 8.33% goes to the pension scheme (EPS, capped at Rs 1,250/month on the Rs 15,000 wage ceiling) and the balance 3.67% goes to EPF. The employer additionally pays about 0.5% towards EDLI insurance.

VPF (Voluntary Provident Fund) is extra contribution you can make above the mandatory 12%, up to 100% of your basic + DA, into the same EPF account. It earns the same 8.25% and also qualifies for Section 80C. But VPF counts towards the Rs 2.5 lakh taxable-interest threshold, so large VPF can make part of your interest taxable.

No. Only your own (employee) EPF and VPF contributions qualify for the Section 80C deduction, within the Rs 1.5 lakh limit and only under the old regime. The employer's EPF contribution is not part of your 80C — though very large employer contributions (above Rs 7.5 lakh a year across EPF, NPS and superannuation) become a taxable perquisite in your hands.

EPF interest is tax-free up to a point. Interest on your own contribution above Rs 2.5 lakh in a financial year is taxable at your slab rate, and EPFO deducts TDS on it under Section 194A at 10% (20% without PAN). Where there is no employer contribution (such as GPF), the tax-free ceiling is Rs 5 lakh. Interest below these thresholds remains fully exempt under Section 10(11)/(12).

From FY 2021-22, if your own EPF plus VPF contribution exceeds Rs 2.5 lakh in a year, the interest earned on the excess is taxable. Under Rule 9D, EPFO maintains separate taxable and non-taxable sub-accounts and deducts TDS at 10% on the taxable interest before crediting it. This typically affects those with a very high basic salary or large VPF.

The EPF taxation rules — the Rs 2.5 lakh interest cap, the Rs 7.5 lakh employer-contribution perquisite, and taxation of pre-5-year withdrawals — apply the same way under both the old and new regimes. What differs is the 80C deduction on your employee contribution, which is available only in the old regime.

Yes. If you withdraw your EPF before completing 5 years of continuous service, the amount is taxable. EPFO deducts TDS under Section 192A at 10% if the withdrawal is Rs 50,000 or more and you have furnished your PAN; without PAN, TDS is at the maximum marginal rate (about 34.6%). Below Rs 50,000 no TDS is deducted, but the amount is still taxable in your return.

No. If you have 5 or more years of continuous service, the entire EPF withdrawal — your contribution, the employer contribution and all interest — is fully exempt from tax, and no TDS is deducted. Service with a previous employer counts towards the 5 years if you transferred the PF rather than withdrew it.

No. Transferring your EPF balance to your new employer's account when you change jobs is not a withdrawal and is never taxed. It also keeps your service continuous, which protects the 5-year tax-free-withdrawal condition. Always transfer rather than withdraw when switching jobs to preserve both the corpus and the tax exemption.

Yes. If you withdraw EPF before 5 years of continuous service, the Section 80C deductions you claimed on your employee contributions in earlier years are added back to your income in the year of withdrawal, in addition to the corpus itself being taxable. This is why an early withdrawal can create a significantly larger tax bill than expected.