PF Guide for Professionals ....





Contribution Rate

Employee (12%):-
12% of monthly basic is paid by the employee towards Provident Fund.

Employer (13.61%) :-
Employee Provident Fund                            3.67% of monthly basic
EPF A/c Administrative charges                 1.10% of monthly basic
Pension Fund                                                  8.33% of monthly basic
Employee Deposit Link Insurance               0.5% of monthly basic
Administrative charges on EDLI                  0.01% of monthly basic

Note:-
In the EPF deposit challan the amounts are to be mentioned in respect as under.
  • A/C No.1  – EPF [3.67% of employer share & 12% of employee contribution]
  • A/C No.2  – Administrative charges [1.1% of salary on which EPF deducted]
  • A/C No.10  – FPF [8.33% of employer share of contribution]
  • A/C No.21  – EDLI [0.5% of salary on which EPF deductions were made]
  • A/C No.22  – Administrative charges on EDLI [0.01% of salary on which EPF deductions were made].
Total amount is to be deposited through single Challan in quadruplicate in State Bank of India or State Bank of Patiala or Bank authorized in this behalf of EPF authorities.
Bank will keep two copes and return to copies as receipt.  One of the above bank receipts is to be attached with EPF monthly return on Form 12A and to be submitted with office of Regional Provident Fund commissioner of your area.

Check PF of own Company or that of Contractors:-
Month wise Statutory Deposits & Returns
January
Before 15th -  P.F. Challan
Before 25th – P.F Form 5, Form 10 & Form 12-A
February
Same as January month
March
Before 15th -  P.F. Challan
Before 25th – P.F Form 5, Form 10 & Form 12-A
P.F. Annual Returns in Form 6A & 3A
April to December
Same as January month
Monthly PF Returns
  • Ensure remittance of PF contributions of employees and employers in PF Challan on or before 15th of the following month of salary disbursed.
  • Submit PF Challan along with following documents to concerned PF Office as monthly returns.
1.  Form 12 A – Consolidate statement of amounts disbursed
2.  Form 2  – Individual declaration forms in respect of any newly joined employees
3.  Form 5 – Consolidate list of newly joined employees
4.  Form 10 – Consolidate list of persons who have resigned/terminated
Please ensure that you submit these forms to PF office under cover letter and have an acknowledged copy for you records.

Annual Returns
  • Form 3A: Contribution card for specific currency period (Employee wise)
  • Form 6A: Annual Statement of contribution (Company Wise)
Employees Provident Fund Form No.10 C & Form 19
Instructions for a member while sending application to Employees Provident Fund Organization.Use the appropriate form for claming Provident Fund Pension, Withdrawal benefit/scheme certificate, Employees Deposit Linked Insurance benefit.  As given below:-
  • Form 19:                 To claim final settlement of Provident Fund by a member.
  • Form 20:                To claim Provident Fund by nominee/legal heir on death of the deceased member.
  • Form 10-D:           To claim pension.  (In duplicate : if within state, in triplicate: if other state) if employee is having more than 10 years of service
  • Form 10-C:           To claim withdrawal benefit/scheme certificate under Employees Provident Fund Scheme 95 if employee is having less than 10 years of service
  • Form 13: To effect transfer of Provident Fund/Pension from one A/c to another.
Employee Provident Fund Organization has introduced a new PF returns software that can be installed by all employers and by keying in data all the required returns can be generated.
Check out the link http://www.epfindia.com/Employers_eReturn.htm

Specific additional requirements
Death Cases:-
  • Nominee/legal heir should apply in Form 20/Form 10-D/Form 5IF.
  • If the member has not executed any nomination, application should be supported with certificate of Legal heir/  Succession Certificate from family members issued by Revenue official/sworn in an affidavit by a court of law.
  • Death certificate of the member.
Pension Cases:-
  • Joint photograph of member/spouse or the claimant should accompany the application.
  • Details of the branch of the specified bank may be given legibly.
  • Date of birth certificates of children.
Some Important points regarding the withdrawal of the PF Amount
  • Regarding withdrawal of PF, you have to withdraw the forms from any PF Office and fill these up and send to the respective employers.
  • The Employee & Employer’s contribution columns have to be left  blank.  The same will be filled up by the employers and signed by their authorized signatory and deposited to the respective PF office.
  • Well, in the said forms, there is one column, asking the mode of payment.  It would be preferable if you choose the option of transferring your PF amount directly to your bank account.  The transaction is safe and fast.
  • After Resignation employee can finally withdraw money after 3 months from the date of resignation and for the same, PF form need to be submitted to PF office only after 2 months from the date of resignation.
Withdrawing Employee PF amount
Now that is more simple than it is usually conceived to be. The first question one needs to ask oneself is that ‘Do you really want to withdraw the PF saving or simply transfer it to the new PF account with the new Employer?’ If the new employer you joined with does not have a PF account or you in fact you decide to while away your time then you still have 2 options!!
Option 1 – Withdraw the PF amount using the following 2 Forms
  • Form 19 – For withdrawal of Provident Fund Amount
  • Form 10 C – For withdrawal of Pension Amount; But now, if you have already put in more than 10 years of contribution in PF then what you need is Form 10 D instead to withdraw the Pension amount.
Option 2 – Opt for a scheme certificate in lieu of withdrawal and transfer it to the the PF account of your new employer you wish to join later.
Now if you don’t wish to opt for any of the above and you only want to transfer your PF account with the new employer, i would say that this is a wise decision because there is no saving account in India which gives you a better interest rate than PF and secondly you can later opt for loan for housing, marriage, etc too. Well if this is your decision, then it is Form 13 ( Application for transfer of EPF Account) that you need. Just fill in the said form, get your present employers  (authorized signatory) signature and forward the same to your previous employer. The PF amount in your previous employers PF account would get transferred to your present PF account.
Click on this link to get to know the balance in your PF Account – http://www.epfindia.com/MembBal.html
Now if you have already applied for your PF this is where you can check for the claim status -
Inform your separated employees about this link so they don’t have to bother you on this.