TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) is applicable on pre-mature EPF (Employees Provident Fund) withdrawals of Rs 50,000 or more with effective from June 1st, 2015. Also, EPF withdrawals are liable to income tax if withdrawn before five years of service. You are actually allowed to withdraw (legally) only if it has been more than two months that you are out of work and your are still unemployed.
Does this mean that you can not withdraw your Provident Fund till you retire? Are there any options to partially withdraw your EPF balance, without getting taxed?
In this post, let us learn about EPF Partial Withdrawals / Advances rules and conditions, various options that are available to an EPF subscriber to claim partial PF withdrawals and the procedure to apply for EPF advance / loan.
Read Latest article : New EPF Withdrawal Rules 2025-26 | Big Relief, Bigger Responsibility for 30 Crore Subscribers
Below are the various reasons for which you can make a partial withdrawal from your EPF Account. These partial withdrawals are usually computed on the basis of your monthly salary or contributions made so far.
(The definition of SALARY for EPF calculation is : Salary = Basic + Dearness Allowance. So, salary here does not mean your Take Home salary. Also, the ‘number of years of service’ is the total number of years you have worked / contributed to EPF. It can be with multiple employers. The amount of advance/withdrawal is not required to be refunded under normal circumstances. If the amount is not utilized, the same should be refunded with penal interest)
You can withdraw up to 90% of EPF Balance (Employee share and interest on that+Employer share and interest on that) or the cost of the construction of property whichever is less. You are allowed to withdraw only once in your working life from the EPF Account to fund the construction, purchase or repayment of a housing loan.
To avail this option, you should have completed 5 years 3 years of service (with effective from 12-April-2017) to purchase or build the house. For buying land or site, the withdrawal amount can be 24 times of your basic wage and should have completed 3 years of service. (Kindly note that as per EPFO’s staff, if you are purchasing from a builder directly, then the minimum PF membership is still considered as 5 years only.)
Your accumulated EPF balance must be more than Rs.20,000. If your spouse is also the EPF member, then the combined balance will be considered for the eligibility.
Henceforth, the EPFO will not transfer the Advance amount to EPF member (employee’s) account. The amount will be credited to Cooperative society, Central Government, a State Government, or any Housing Agency under any Housing Scheme or any promoter or builders as the case may be, in one or more than one installments.
If the amount of such withdrawal is more than the actual cost or expenses of acquiring the property, then you have to refund such excess amount to EPFO in lump sum within 30 days from the date of allotment / completion of project / alteration of house etc.,
In case, you do not utilize the EPF advance amount completely for the said purpose, you have to refund the entire amount to the EFPO account within 15 days.
Below table has all the required details.
Below is the standard ‘Declaration Form‘ provided by the EPFO. The EPF member has to submit this form in case the ‘partial withdrawal’ is for HOUSING purposes. There is no need to enclose any other documents like copy of Sale Deed, Building Sanction plan, Encumbrance Certificate etc., The form has to be signed by the employee and the employer. Click on the below image to download the ‘Declaration Form Template’. This standard declaration form will be discontinued from Feb 2017. Henceforth, there is no need to submit this form (latest update as on 22/Feb/2017)
For obtaining EPF advance for purchase of house/site, employee(s) have to now submit application letter as below;
Latest Update (22-February-2017) :
EPFO has introduced new composite, single page and common Withdrawal form for all types of Withdrawals. This new Composite Claim Form (CCF) will now replace all the existing withdrawal Forms 19, 10C & 31 (both UAN & Non-UAN based). Kindly read this latest article @ New EPF Composite Claim Form | Single Page Form for different types of PF Withdrawals (Full / Partial).
If you are prepaying the debt (loan), you should have completed at least 10 years of service. To avail this provision, you need to submit Loan certificate / statement to your employer, along with From 31 (form for EPF partial withdrawal),.
The withdrawal amount that is admissible for this reason can be least of the below;
i) 36 times of your monthly salary (or)
ii) Total contribution (or)
iii) total outstanding home loan amount
You can now use your EPF balance to repay your home loan EMI either fully or partly. You can instruct the EPFO to deduct monthly amount from your PF balanced and the same will be transferred to your Loan account, as long as there is sufficient EPF balance in your account. This transfer will be active as long as you are the member of EPF. Once your membership of EPF ceases, then EPFO will stop to repay the loan.
You need to submit below authorization letter to EPFO;
The EPFO allows advance withdrawals whenever you need funds for medical treatment for yourself or a family member (spouse, children or dependent parents). No minimum years of service is required. However minimum one month of hospitalization is a must.
The advance can be taken for all major surgical operations or for treatment of critical illness. You have to submit proof of hospitalization, leave certificate along with Form 31, in case the funds are for your own treatment. (Latest Update (28-Apr-2017) : For partial withdrawal towards medical treatment, now there is no need to submit any medical certificate or document. For more details, kindly read – ‘EPF advance for medical treatment‘)EPF Partial Withdrawals for Education or Marriage Expenses
You can make a partial withdrawal for marriage of your children, brother / sister and yourself if you have completed seven years in service.
You can also make a partial EPF withdrawal for meeting education expenses of your children. Do note that only ’employees contribution’ is allowed to be withdrawn.
An employee who is physically challenged can apply for EPF partial withdrawal for purchasing any equipment that can minimize the hardship on account of handicap.
After attaining 54 years of age and within one year before retirement, a partial withdrawal of up to 90% of PF amount is allowed.
You need to submit EPF Partial Withdrawal form i.e., Form no 31 along with the required documents / proofs to your Employer. In EPF’s Advance form no 31, you need to provide your personal, PF account, salary and bank account details. Once the claim is processed, you will receive direct credit to your bank account.Do note that only after your Employer verifies your partial withdrawal application will the EPF office processes it.
Latest Update (22-Feb-2017) : With effective from Feb 2017, Form 31 will be replaced with new EPF Composite Form. Kindly click here to know more.
Your EPF contributions / savings are meant for your retirement (long-term). So, think twice before you withdraw your PF money. Try out all the options and sources to fund your expenses or needs. EPF Partial Withdrawals should be your last resort.
Latest Update (26-March-2020) : EPFO members can now withdraw up to 75% of the PF balances limited to 3 months wages as non refundable advance.
Latest News : You can now submit PF new claim forms directly to EPFO office without your Employer’s attestation. Download New Composite Claim Form. Click here for complete details.
Latest update (22-June-2017) : EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Org) & HUDCO (Housing & Urban Development Corp) plan to tie up for providing housing subsidy to members of EPF Scheme, under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. As per the recent notification, EPFO now allows its subscribers who want to buy a house property from Housing Societies / Agencies to withdraw up to 90% of their EPF accumulations to buy homes.
Latest Update (27-June-2018) : EPF Subscribers who resign from their service can now withdraw 75% of their total Provident Fund (PF) kitty after one month from the date of cessation of service. This will be considered as a Partial PF withdrawal (Advance).
Continue reading : ‘Online EPF Claim submission : Process Flow & Eligibility Conditions‘
(Source & Reference: EPFO. Photo Credit : rediff.com) (Post last updated on : 02-Oct-2023)
This post was last modified on December 22, 2025 11:07 pm
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View Comments
Hi SreeKanth,
When I applied wanted 3 Lakh of PF Advanced for House Construction but by mistakenly I typed 30 k. For that I received 30 k to my bank. Again I'm trying to apply the claim for House Construction of 2.5 lakh but rejecting with below reaon.
1) ALREADY AVAILED ADVANCE U/P 68B(1)(C) FOR CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSE 2) ALREADY AVAILED ADVANCE FOR PERMISSIBLE TIMES
Kindly suggest me to withdraw my adv pf.
Dear Sreedhar,
For the purpose of 'house construction', an EPF member can claim only once in lifetime.
Hi Sreekanth,
I applied last year form 31 two times amount settled. this year i tried but showing
Error while AADHAAR authentication: “Pi” (basic) attributes of demographic data did not match.
i don't no what is error? please help me how to correct error
and how to applied next time
Dear KS,
I have noticed that this type of 'data mismatch' error has been reported by by some of the EPF members where their data is perfectly alright. Looks like there can some (temporary) tech issue @ EPFO.
You may kindly submit your grievance to them via this link..
PF office is asking for bank 's account to pre pay loan . Bank says they don't such option. Please advice. Looks like PF office does not issue any more cheque or DD. Bank is ICICI
Dear KP,
You can provide your Lender's bank account details (where your loan account is being serviced) to the EPFO.
Kindly refer to the Annexure-I image in the above article.
Hi Sreekanth,
Today I have logged in UAN portal and noticed that my Father name is updated incorrectly (Last Name is displayed before First/Middle name) and also my PAN is not verified.
But my aadhar number is verified. Could you please suggest me, whether both of the above details need to be corrected before proceed with Form 31 claim.
Note: I have just applied for PF advance withdrawals from Umang App today, but I am not sure whether the claim will be rejected or successfully processed.
Thanks in advance,
Tushar Dhar
Dear Tushar,
Your partial withdrawal can be processed I believe.
You can submit a joint declaration to the EPFO through your employer and can get your Father's name updated.
Kindly note that your name format should be the same across Aadhaar - PAN - EPF UAN.
Related articles :
* EPF UAN Name Correction online | How to update your Personal details in UAN? |New procedure
* How to verify PAN online in EPF UAN Member portal?
Hi Sreekanth,
I have applied for epf claim under form-31(house construction) recently. It got rejected by saying the reason "NOT ELIGIBLE TO CLAIM DUE TO INSUFFICIENT MEMBER SERVICE./NOT ELIGIBLE TO CLAIM DUE TO INSUFFICIENT MEMBER SERVICE."
But I have more than 5 years of service(if the service is not there then it will not allow to select the option of construction of house in the dropdown while Claim).
I have three PF accounts under one UAN, all the previous balances transferred to the current PF on(May2018) the last PF account opened on Feb 2018.
Please let me know what would be the reason for rejection(rejected twice).
I have 3.75 Lakhs (2.24(employee) +1.51(employer)), How much maximum i can claim under form-31 for house construction.
Please help me
Thanks,
Mahesh Babu.K
Dear Mahesh,
Did you apply for 90% of PF balance?
Hi Sreekanth, first time I applied for 2.5 lakh and second time I applied for 1.8 lakh which is around 90% of employee contribution. How much can I apply .?
Dear Mahesh,
An EPF member can apply only once in his/her life-time for the purpose of 'house construction'.
Also, kindly go through below points ;
Purchase of House/Flat through a Society / Housing Agency : If withdrawal application is through a Society then minimum years is 3 years. ( through a registered society or houses/flats being constructed through forming a society.) – Section 68 BD. In this case, 90% of EPF balance is payable as an Advance.
Purchase of House/Flat directly from a Builder : In this case, the Membership service criteria to withdraw is still considered as 5 years only. – they will refer to Section 68B.
For purchase of site directly from builder :
24 month’s basic wages and DA.
For purchase of house/flat/construction:
36 month’s basic wages and DA
OR
Total of employee and employer share with interest
OR
Total cost.
Whichever is least will be allowed as withdrawal.
hi sreekanth, i want to apply for form-31 with option of not getting salary >2 months option(at present i am not employee of that company). howmuch percentage i can apply and does it need any approval of employer ?
Dear Jai,
I am unable to understand this - 'with option of not getting salary >2 months option' ??
May I know the purpose of withdrawal?
Hi Srikanth Reddy,
I have 2 epfo accounts. One is my previous company account and another one is current company account. I served 2.5 years in my previous company and 2.5 years in current company. I would like to withdrawal both accounts PF amount. I have few queries regarding withdrawal. Can you please guide me.
1. Withdrawal by linking previous company PF is good option or withdrawal both accounts is good option?
2. Will they consider as 5 years service for my current PF account If I link my previous company PF account?
Can you please give clarity on these 2 queries?
Thanks,
Kumar
Dear Sravan,
Are you referring to Full withdrawal?
If it is partial withdrawal, may I know the purpose of it?
Dear Reddy Sir
I've also same query that I been in a company for 4 years 8 month and after that I'm in a new company since 14 Months and this way I've completed more than 5 years of service
but today my advance claim for House construction got rejected due to reason shown as Total service less then 5 years not eligible, insufficient service.
I'd applied for around 2 lac rupees and my UAN account has 2 passbooks as one from my previous employer and another from current one.
Please suggest now what should I do and why they did this?
Hi,
I'm applied pf partial withdrawal 5 times. So I'm unable to apply pf advance in online process. So offline process available I know that. But my question is how many years after I'm eligible to apply online process?
Dear Ruthwik,
Did you submit all your online claim requests (5 times) in FY 2018-19? When did you last submit?
Yes submit 2018-19
So how many years to wait for online process
Dear Ruthwik,
Did you try submitting now? (as new FY has begun..FY 2019-20)
Sorry, I'm submitted claim the financial year 2019-20, so can I wait one year or more than one year?
Dear Ruthwik..Do you mean to say that you have submitted 5 claim requests in the last 10 days??
Yes recently submitted claim for 5th time. I got a claim amount also. So if apply again pf withdrawal for advance exceeded something error was getting. So how many months are wait for apply online process in advance pf withdrawal?
i had received msg stating that my partial pf has been approved and shall soon be sent to your bank ac....its been more that 2 days still the amount has not been credited.... What is the max time taken to credit the amount once approval is received
HI Sir My claim ( has been rejected due to :- K/K) means
Dear arun ..i am not sure..
You may kindly submit your query to the EPFO and check on the reason for rejection, via this link..