EPF Calculator

How the EPF calculator works

Every month, 12% of your basic + DA is deducted from your salary and goes into your Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account. Your employer also pays 12%, but splits it: 8.33% of wages up to ₹15,000 (at most ₹1,250 a month) goes to the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), and the rest — 3.67% of wages, plus everything above the EPS cap — goes to your EPF. This follows the EPF Scheme, 1952 and EPS, 1995 as they stand at the time of writing; the rules can change, so check with EPFO or your employer.

Interest is calculated on the balance at the end of each month at the yearly rate ÷ 12, and credited once a year. The rate is declared by EPFO every financial year (8.25% for FY 2024-25), so the calculator lets you change it. Your basic grows each year by the salary increase you enter.

Example: with a basic + DA of ₹30,000, you pay ₹3,600 a month. Your employer pays ₹3,600 too: ₹1,250 to EPS and ₹2,350 to EPF. So ₹5,950 a month goes into EPF, and the first year’s interest at 8.25% is ₹3,191, giving a balance of ₹74,591 after one year. Over 30 years with a 5% yearly raise, the balance grows to about ₹1.61 crore, of which about ₹1.08 crore is interest.

Is EPF interest taxable?

Withdrawals after five years of continuous service are generally tax-free. However, interest on your own contributions above ₹2.5 lakh a year (₹5 lakh if your employer doesn’t contribute) is taxable each year. Contributions at the levels most salaried people make stay well under this limit.

What happens to the EPS part?

The EPS money does not earn EPF interest and is not paid as a lump sum at retirement. Instead it funds a monthly pension from age 58 if you have at least 10 years of service. That is why it is shown separately and left out of the corpus above.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my employer’s share smaller than mine in the passbook?

Because up to ₹1,250 a month of the employer’s 12% goes to EPS, which appears separately (as the pension contribution). Your own 12% goes fully to EPF.

Should I contribute on full basic or on ₹15,000?

Contributing on full basic builds a much bigger corpus but lowers your take-home pay. Whether you can choose depends on your employer’s policy — ask HR.

Does VPF earn the same interest?

Yes. Voluntary PF goes into the same account and earns the EPF rate, but the employer does not match it, and it counts towards the ₹2.5 lakh limit for tax-free interest.

How accurate is this projection?

It assumes the same interest rate and a steady raise every year. Real rates change yearly and EPFO’s exact posting dates differ slightly, so treat the result as an estimate, not a statement of your account.