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 Also, EPF withdrawals are liable to income tax if withdrawn before five years of service.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,
Good Noon.
I have requested for 15000 of my PF amount for withdrawal(reason -illness).I have like 3 years of experience where only 1800 got credited to my account.During the time I have requested for PF withdrawal my new company has raised PF transfer request too.so I am not clear with the reason behind my amount transfer.can you suggest me the idea for amount withdrawal.
thanks
Meena Siddan
the total amount in PF is 84000
Dear Meena,
Has the Transfer been completed?
Ya .The status in EPF portal is “claim settled “.Now I got 1800 to my bank account
Dear Meena,
That's surprising.
Probably, the claim was under process when the transfer was taking place.
You may submit your grievance to them via this link.
Or Can try submitting the partial claim request again with same reason.
Hi Sir, I worked with my previous organisation for almost years and after resigning from there I shared my old UAN with my new Organisation. The entire amount has been transferred from the previous organisation to new organisation, and it has been 6 months working with my new organisation now. But when I applied for PF Advance (Form 31) the claim got rejected stating below reason.
Could you please suggest me something as to how I can go ahead and withdraw my PF advance, as I am in need of my money (urgently).
My total PF accumulation is close to 80,000/- and I tried withdrawing 60,000/-
My contact number : +9190354565**.
Thank you in advance.
"CLAIM ID BGBNG190150025718
CLAIM RECEIPT DATE 17/01/2019
CLAIM FORM TYPE Form-31 (EPF Advance)
PARA DETAILS Construction of House
TOTAL AMOUNT APPROVED N/A
DISPATCH DATE N/A
CLAIM STATUS Rejected
REMARKS Claim-Form-31 (EPF Advance)(Construction of House)
Claim id-BGBNG190150025718 Member id-
BGBNG00441750000012457 has been rejected due to
:- NOT ELIGIBLE INUFFICIENT SERVICE/OK"
Dear Shoaib,
Do you meet the eligibility criteria for the said purpose of claim?
You may also submit your grievance to the EPFO online via this link and let them know your total service period..
my employer has generated 2 uan how can merge it, also suggest can i calim full amount of non active uan pf fund in my bank account
Dear manoj,
If you are contributing to EPF scheme now, you can not withdraw full EPF from previous EPF account.
You can get the funds transferred from old EPF ac to new/current EPF ac, during this process your old UAN gets automatically blocked.
Related article :
Have you been allotted two UAN numbers? How to get multiple EPF UANs merged?
My self Selva, I am also applied 5 times in advance claim, now i can't apply withdrawal, If there is an option to submit a cliam in offline, then what is the form number and procedure
Dear Selva,
Kindly read : New EPF Composite Claim Form | Single Page Form for different types of PF Withdrawals (Full / Partial)
hello sir,
my self manoj kr gupta as i have applied 5 time for illness loan but 2 time is rejected and 3 time is approved but but any amount is not transferred in my bank account due to wrong bank details after that i opend new bank account and updated same in my kyc, then i was applying for loan portal is saying your online limit is exceeded you have to submit offline form.so may i know if any claim not settled in my account so can my limit can reset and can i apply online or not plz help.
Hi.. i require your suggestion on my EPF related query.
I Joined Job April-13 & quit 10th March-18, new organisation still not contributing any EPF (As no of employee less).
So, if i withdraw my contribution, is this taxable?
How much tax will be payed?
thank you very much.
Dahiya.mandeep**@gmail.com
Dear Mandeep,
If your service period is less than 5 years then claim amount is a taxable income, else it is not..
Kindly read :
* EPF Withdrawals : New Provisions & Rules related to TDS
* EPF Interest Income & Withdrawals | Tax Implications | Is EPF Interest taxable?
* Tax Implications of EPF, PPF & NPS Withdrawals (Full / Partial) & Maturity proceeds
Dear Sreekanth San,
Thank you very much for you reply.
I come to know that if there complete 4 years and upon that having 240 days, than considered as 5 years.
Actually, i didn't know this definition is right or some body defines as per his convenience.
Please reconsider once more .
thank you very much San
Mandeep
Dear Mandeep,
The ' 4 years - 240 days' clause is generally applicable for Gratuity payment cases.
I am not very sure this is applied in EPF claim processing.
You may kindly submit a grievance request to the EPFO via this link and inquire on this..
In case, they provide information, kindly share it here, thank you!
I have left my job and had claimed for PF withdrawal.
But they rejected it by saying that my Date of joining is after September 2014.
Kindly tell me what can I do to withdraw my PF and which form should I have to fill up.
Dear Santosh,
Did you apply through online or offline mode?
If offline, did you quote your UAN mode?
Sir, Can you please help me understand this rejected reason as below. Thanks in advance.
Claim-Form-31 (EPF Advance)(Illness) Claim id-PYKRP181150027747 Member id-PYKRP00457940000021655 has been rejected due to :- PF AC NO 35518 7003 ALREADY SETTLED FOR THE PERIOD 19112012 TO 2016 HENCE ENTERED SERVICE WRONG/PF AC NO 35518 7003 ALREADY SETTLED FOR THE PERIOD 19112012 TO 2016 HENCE ENTERED SERVICE WRONG
Regards
Arun
Dear Arun,
Have you already claimed final settlement on the above said old EPF account?
Yes, I did. But in this current account I claimed for illness few months back and they got settled. Can you please why they rejected, if request again for 50% of my current EPF account will it get processed? Please let me know.
Thanks
Dear Arun,
You need to claim advance from the latest EPF account.
For the purpose of ‘medical treatment’, the least of 6 months basic wages (or) employee share with interest is allowed as partial withdrawal.”
Thanks for the clarification,
Interesting, I did claimed against the current account as you see in reason message it is Member id-PYKRP00457940000021655 , But when they rejected they have stated my old account details 355187003 , why they are doing like this..
Dear Arun,
You may submit a grievance request to them via this link and ask them for more details on the 'reason for rejecting your claim'.
Thanks for clarification Sreekanth.
Regards
Arun
Sir, i have applied for pf advance under house construction on line and had few queries as stated below.
1.How long would it take for this claim to be settled.
2. Will the amount be credited in my epfo linked account
3. I have claimed for 90% of employee +employer including interest, i am member since 11 years with same account
Kindly throw some light , eagerly waiting for your reply
Dear Jai,
1 - Online claims are generally settled within 10 to 15 buiness days.
2 - Yes.
3 - 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 sir Thr was total amount of 78k in my pf account including employe share employer share and pension contributions including everything
So i had applied for 35K from tht last month and same amount got credited to my bank account
But agian i have applied for remaining 40k vll it vll be approved
Can I withdraw Employee share + Employer share+pension contribution for its medical emergency
Dear Bharath,
For the purpose of ‘medical treatment’, the least of 6 months basic wages (or) employee share with interest is allowed as partial withdrawal.”
I have noticed that EPFO has been rejecting the online partial withdrawals for medical treatment purposes once such claims up to 3 to 4 times have been made.
Sir, i have applied 4 times for medical treatment, same was approved and settled. but not i m unable to apply. Message is showing - MAXIMUM NUMBER OF ONLINE CLAIM SUBMISSION HAVE BEEN EXEED, PLEASE SUBMIT CLAIM THROUGH PHYSICAL MODE.
what is time limit, how much the gap is needed. please suggest.
is there any other way through online we can apply for pf partial withdrawals.
Dear umesh,
I have noticed that EPFO has been rejecting the online partial withdrawals for medical treatment purposes once such claims up to 3 to 4 times have been made in a FY.
You may try submitting an offline claim request.
Hi Srikanth,
I have applied PF advance withdrawal on 12/21/2018 but still it showing under process in portal, but u said it will process 10-15 days, could u please confirm when can i get my advance amount
Dear Udaya,
Suggest you to kindly submit your grievance to the EPFO via this link and inquire about it..