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 Also, EPF withdrawals are liable to income tax if withdrawn before five years of service.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 Sir,
I have given a request for advance PF withdrawl for purchase of new flat, but my request got rejected due to the reason of less than 5 years service in current organisation. I wanted to understand that since I have transferred all my PF balances from my Previous companies to my current PF account regularly whenever I have shifted the company so will they consider the service tenure of previous company's as well or not for 5 years condition.
Please help me to clarify this.
Dear Vikas,
I believe that if one is a member of EPF and contributing for more than 5 years (can b with multiple employers), he/she can make partial withdrawal for purchase of flat. Kindly find out your employer's view on this.
I want to withdraw PF to cover expenses incurred for my father's treatment. Although mediclaim was also there however it is going to cover only upto Rs. 100000 as per the Policy. And as per the reimbursement policy I may get a partial amount only (May be 60% or 70%). My expenses which we made from our own were exceeding Rs. 300000. I have sufficient balance in my PF Account. I want to withdraw upto Rs. 200000 from PF account. However most of the documents from Hostpital and treatment will need to be given to Mediclaim request. Advice how to prceed.
Dear Rajesh,
A doctor [ or registered medical practitioner] of the hospital should certify that a surgical operation (or) hospitalization for 1 month or more is/was necessary.
Certificate from ESI (employee state insurance) or from Employer that the ESI facility are not available to the member.
Apply in Form-31 through your Employer.
Hi,
Could you please guide me how to withdraw my epf amount. this is the first time and no idea about this. This feb 23 2016 I completed my 6 years in the same organization and still working... There is a Pace maker cardio surgery to my mother in NIMS Punjagutta Hyderabd. Please guide me what documents need to submit for withdraw PF amount. thank you...
Dear Sunilkumar,
You can not make full balance withdrawal. Only partial withdrawal (as given in the table) is allowed.
A doctor [ or registered medical practitioner] of the hospital should certify that a surgical operation (or) hospitalization for 1 month or more is/was necessary.
Certificate from ESI (employee state insurance) or from Employer that the ESI facility are not available to the member.
Apply in Form-31 through your Employer.
Dear SIR
I WANT TO WITHDRAW THE ADVANCE PF BEHALF OF MY MARRIAGE WHICH HELD ON 28 MAY 2015. I WANT TO WITHDRAW THE PF NOW BY SUMITTING SOLEMNITY CERTIFICATE.
PLEASE CONFIRM WHETHER THE SAME IS POSSIBLE AT MAHARASTRA STATE, PUNE OFFICE
Dear Kailas..I believe that you can't submit the partial withdrawal application now for the said purpose.
Hi Sreekanth,
I have a home loan with my dad as co-applicant and property jointly owned by me and my father. Am i still eligible to withdraw a part of my PF fund to repay a portion of my home loan, as all the guidelines mention about spouse only as joint owner? I am working in the same company for 11 years now. Please advise. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Param
Dear parameshwar,
As you have certain ownership share in the property, I believe that you can make partial withdrawal.
Thanks for the reply Sreekanth. Where can I get confirmation so that I can start the process? Should I visit PF only?
Dear Parameshwar..You can contact EPFO or you can check with your employer too.
Dear Sreekanth,
I have a query on PF withdrawal, in Year 2014 I withdraw PF(just gave reason that, I resigned) and now I again applied from my last company (which i left 8 months before) currently i am job less.
I got to know from Employer that, PF withdrawal forms submitted to Chennai PF office on Jan 15th and the status would be updated in EPF portal after numbering is done. So far i didn't find update in portal, so I am worrying that, is there any chances that my application gets reject because i already withdraw once? Please clarify.
Thank you,
Dear Kiran..If you are not employed now and have submitted the EPF withdrawal forms after 60 days from the date of resignation, you application can be approved.
Dear Srikanth,
Thanks a lot for your reply.
Any idea, how and where to check the status of my PF withdrawal? Its been 3 months now and 1½ month with PF office since my forms are with them, I do not hear any info or no updates in EPFO portal.
Regards,
Kiran
Dear Kiran..Are you working in any company & contributing to EPF scheme now?
You may submit your grievance @ click here..
Dear Sreekanth,
I am not working in India and hence not contributing to EPF scheme. Please update
Regards,
Kiran
Dear Kiran..As suggested you may kindly submit your grievance to EPFO.
SIR,
I have completed 08 years of service in organisation.I have withdrawn money from EPFO in march 2015 for purchase of flat.
Can I withdraw money from EPFO again this month before completion of 01(one) year from first withdrawl on ground of same flat next installment payment.
Dear Rakesh..Kindly note that EPF withdrawal for the same purpose (purchase of Flat) is allowed ONE time only.
if persons are in aboard or hospitalised can his nominees / legal heairs / spous claim for the adavance without member attested singatory..
Dear Denish..I believe that it is allowed. However minimum one month of hospitalization is a must. Kindly check with his/her employer too.
if any person died before completing his 10 years services he / she may claim for the pension??????
Dear Denish..His/her nominee can claim the EPS amount.
My subscription is Rs.141069/-
Dear Bijay..Yes, you can withdraw for this purpose, provided you have completed 5 years of service. Regarding the amount, kindly refer to the points mentioned in the article.