PF Contribution Calculator

EPF (Employees' Provident Fund) is a retirement savings scheme in which both the employee and employer contribute 12% of basic + DA every month. The employee's full 12% goes into their own EPF account. The employer's 12%, however, is split: 8.33% (capped at ₹1,250/month, based on a ₹15,000 wage ceiling) is diverted to EPS (Employees' Pension Scheme), which provides a monthly pension after retirement, and the remainder flows into the employee's EPF account alongside their own contribution.

Employers separately pay EDLI (Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance) at 0.5% of wages, also capped at the ₹15,000 ceiling. EDLI is a life insurance benefit payable to an employee's nominee - it costs the employee nothing.

The statutory PF wage ceiling is ₹15,000/month. Legally, PF is mandatory on wages up to this ceiling - employers are not statutorily required to extend the 12% contribution beyond it. In practice, though, most employers voluntarily apply PF on the full actual basic + DA, even when it's well above ₹15,000, because it results in a larger retirement corpus for employees and is a common expectation in formal employment.

Employees who want to save even more can opt for Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF), contributing more than the mandatory 12% - up to 100% of basic + DA. VPF earns the same interest rate as regular EPF and is a popular additional tax-saving retirement instrument, since it carries the same tax treatment as EPF up to applicable limits.

PF contributions are reported and paid every month via the Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) on the EPFO portal, and the amount deducted plus the employer's share must be deposited by the 15th of the following month. Missing this deadline attracts interest under Section 7Q and damages under Section 14B of the EPF & MP Act - use the EPFO Penalty Calculator to estimate what a late deposit would cost.

Employees can check their annual PF statement and passbook anytime through the EPFO member portal or the UMANG app, using their UAN to log in - no need to wait for the employer to share a statement.