EPF

Our Work-:
1.  Registration
2.  Monthly Challan & Return File
3. Updation & Correction.
What is EPF?
You may know it as that annoying, elusive chunk of your monthly salary that you aren’t able to spend. So what is it, and where does it go?
Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement benefits scheme that’s available to all salaried employees. This fund is maintained and overseen by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation of India (EPFO) and any company with over 20 employees is required by law to register with the EPFO.
It’s a savings platform that helps employees save a fraction of their salary every month that can be used in the event that you are rendered unable to work, or upon retirement.

Provident Fund Deduction from Salary:

When you start working, you and your employer both contribute 12% of your basic salary (plus dearness allowances, if any) into your EPF account. The entire 12% of your contribution goes into your EPF account along with 3.67% (out of 12%) from your employer, while the balance 8.33% from your employer’s side is diverted to your EPS (Employee’s Pension Scheme) . It’s important to note that if your basic pay is above Rs. 15,000 per month, your employer can only contribute 8.33% of 15,000 (i.e. Rs. 541) to your EPS and the balance goes into your EPF account.
These funds are pooled together from many employees like yourself and invested by a trust. This generates an interest of 8% - 12%, which is decided by the government and the central board of trustees. The annual interest rate is available on the official EPF India website and is currently at 8.75%.
EPF is active every time you receive your pay. If you’re changing jobs, it’s important to also update your EPF information with your new company, giving them your EPF number so that they can continue the contribution.

Tax Benefits:

The employer contribution to your EPF is tax-free, and your contribution is tax-deductible under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. The money you invest in EPF, the interest earned and the money you eventually withdraw after the mandatory specified period (5 years) are exempt from Income Tax.
With an Aadhaar card:
·         Now just by linking the employee’s Aadhaar card to his/her UAN, the whole process of getting the signature of one’s employer has been skipped for good.
·         To facilitate a smooth process, employees should make sure that their Aadhaar card details and bank details are embedded in the EPFO’s member portal.
·         The employer should have verified both - the Aadhaar card and the bank details.
·         The employee has to make sure that his/her UAN has been activated before starting the process of making a withdrawal.
·         Once you have met these conditions, download Form 19- UAN (for making PF withdrawals) and Form 10C- UAN (for making withdrawals from one’s pension scheme).
·         Now, enter your name, address, registered mobile number, PAN card number, and the employee’s reason for leaving and date of joining. The employee should make sure that the details match that on one’s Aadhaar card and bank details. Any discrepancies could lead to a rejection of the application or a delay.
·         Next, the employee should attach a canceled cheque to the form and submit it to the regional EPF office.


EPFO digital signature

To make the process of transfer claims easier and transparent, the EPFO has introduced the digital signature of employers. Now, employers can approve claims by using their digital signatures. When an employer shifts organizations, his transfer claim has to be attested by either his previous employer or the present one, and this is when the digital signature of the employer comes into play. Back then, employers had to fill Form 13 and get it signed by their employers and then submit it to the regional EPF office. Now, the process has been simplified and can be done on the EPFO’s member portal. To have a digital signature, employers have to apply for a digital certificate- which contains their personal details such as name, email ID, APNIC account name, public key and the country of the employer. The digital certificate is issued by the Certifying authority and contains this identification key contains their required details that will be embedded in the EPFO’s member portal.
Tax on early withdrawals
Withdrawing the PF balance without completing five continuous years of service has tax implications. The total employer’s contribution amount along with the interest earned will get taxable in the year of withdrawal. Also, the amount of deduction claimed under Section 80C on one’s own contribution will be added to one’s income in the year of withdrawal. In addition, the interest earned on one’s own contribution will also be subject to tax.
On 1 October 2014, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched Universal Account Number for Employees covered by EPFO to enable PF number portability.

Contents

  • 1 Origin of the Scheme
  • 2 Provident Fund
  • 3 Appeals
  • 4 Structure
  • 5 Universal Account Number
  • 6 PF Forms
  • 7 Longevity Risk
  • 8 References

Origin of the Scheme

The question of providing for the future of industrial workers after their retirement or for their dependents, in the event of their premature death, engaged the attention of the Central Government for a long time. The first Provident Fund Act passed in 1925 for regulating the provident funds of some private concerns was limited in scope. In 1929 the Royal Commission on Labour stressed the need for formulating schemes for instituting provident funds for industrial workers. In the Indian Labour Conference held in 1948, it was generally agreed that the introduction of a statutory provident fund scheme for industrial workers might be undertaken. To test such a scheme in a restricted field the Coal Mines Provident Fund Scheme was launched in 1948. The success of this Scheme led to the demand for its expansion to other industries.
Accordingly, close of the year 1951 witnessed the promulgation of the Employees' Provident Funds Ordinance. The Ordinance promulgated on 15 November 1951 was replaced by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952 which extended to the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir. The Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 framed under section 5 of the Act was brought into force by stages and was enforced in its entirety by 1 November 1952.

Provident Fund

The Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 came into effect on 4 March 1952. Six industries namely Cigarettes, Electrical, mechanical or general engineering products, Iron and Steel, Paper and Textiles (made wholly or in part of cotton, wool or jute or silk, whether natural or artificial) came under implementation of the Act wef 1 November 1952 The organisation is administered by a Central Board of Trustees, composed of representatives of the Government of India, State governments, Employers and Employees. The board is chaired by the Union Labour Minister of India. The Chief Executive of the EPFO, the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, reports to the Union Labour Minister through the Secretary of Labour and Employment in the ministry. The headquarters of the organisation is in New Delhi.
The Constitution of India under "Directive Principles of State Policy" provides that the State shall within the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old-age, sickness & disablement and undeserved want. The EPF & MP Act, 1952 was enacted by the Parliament of India and came into force with effect from 4 March 1952 as part of a series of legislative interventions made in this direction. Presently, the following three schemes are in operation under the Act:
  1. Employees' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952
  2. Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976
  3. Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (replacing the Employees' Family Pension Scheme, 1971)
Retirement fund body EPFO on 21 February 2018 lowered the rate of interest on employees provident fund to 8.55% for 2017-18[6], from 8.65%[7] in the previous fiscal.

Appeals

The orders of the Department can be appealed to Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal[8] at New Delhi or at Bangalore if the employer is situated in states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa and Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. The Delhi Tribunal is located at Scope Tower, Laxmi Nagar-sss, New Delhi and is presided by Presiding Officer who is a member of Judicial Service and by a Registrar who is deputed from the other central government cadres.

Structure

The EPFO has the dual role of being the enforcement agency to oversee the implementation of the EPF & MP Act and as a service provider for the covered beneficiaries throughout the country.
The Act is administered by Central Board of Trustees, EPF a Statutory Board constituted by the Central Government under Section 5A of the Act. The CBT, as the Board is informally called, consists of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, 5 Central Government Representatives, 15 State Government Representatives, 10 Employees' Representatives, 10 Employers' Representatives with Central P.F Commissioner and the Member Secretary to the Board. The Executive Committee of the CBT is constituted from among the members of the CBT to assist the Central Board in the discharge of its function related to Administrative matters.
The officials of the organization in the Cadre of Commissioners are appointed by the Central Board under Section 5D for the efficient administration of the Act and Schemes. To this end, the Commissioners of the Organization are vested with vast powers under the statute conferring quasi-judicial authority for assessment of financial liability on the employer, search and seizure of records, levy of damages, attachment and auction of a defaulter's property, prosecution and arrest and detention of defaulters in civil prison etc.
EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme) with any of the following official's attestation to EPFO office in which their EPF account is maintained.

  • Any gazetted officer
  • The Magistrate
  • The Post/ Sub Postmaster
  • President of the Village Union
  • President of the Village Panchayat where there is no Union Board
  • Chairman/ Secretary/ Member of the Municipal/ District Local Board
  • Member of the Parliament or Legislative Assembly
  • Manager of the Bank in which your savings Bank Account is currently maintained
  • Head of Educational Institution which is recognized by Government
  • Any authorized official, as may be approved by the commissioner
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