The Employees’ Provident Fund is the backbone of retirement saving for India’s salaried workforce. Each month you contribute twelve percent of your basic salary plus dearness allowance, and your employer contributes a matching amount — part of the employer’s share goes into the pension scheme known as EPS, while the rest joins your EPF balance. The interest rate, currently around eight point two five percent, is declared by the EPFO every year and credited annually. Because withdrawals are restricted during employment, compounding works uninterrupted for decades.
Your Universal Account Number, or UAN, ties all of this together. It stays the same for life and follows you across job changes, and it is the key to checking your passbook, merging old accounts, and tracking every rupee of interest credited. For most employees, the EPF will be the single largest pillar of their retirement corpus — often bigger than any mutual fund SIP they run.
This EPF calculator projects your balance at retirement from your current basic salary, expected annual hikes, and the interest rate you enter. It combines your contributions, your employer’s contributions, and years of compounding into one clear figure. Use it to check whether your projected corpus matches your retirement needs, and compare the projection against your actual EPF passbook once a year to stay on track.
How it works
The calculator starts with your current monthly basic salary plus dearness allowance and grows it each year by the annual hike percentage you enter. From every year’s salary it takes the employee contribution and the employer’s EPF share, month by month, and treats each as a deposit earning the EPFO interest rate for the time it stays in the account. Because salaries usually rise each year, later contributions are larger and carry more weight in the final corpus.
The part of the employer’s contribution that goes to the pension scheme is excluded from your EPF balance, since that money funds your future pension rather than this corpus. Each year’s deposits and accumulated interest compound together, so the later years — when your salary and balance are both larger — add the biggest chunks. The employer’s pension share is left out of this balance entirely, since it builds a separate monthly pension. The final figure is the sum of all EPF contributions plus all the interest earned across your working years.
How to use this tool
- Enter your current monthly basic salary plus dearness allowance.
- Enter your expected annual salary hike percentage.
- Enter the EPFO interest rate per annum.
- Choose the number of years until your retirement.
- Click Calculate to see your projected EPF corpus.
- Compare the result with your EPF passbook to stay realistic.
Practical tips
- Transfer, don't withdraw, when you change jobs — linking the new account to your existing UAN preserves years of compounding and keeps your pensionable service continuous.
- Withdrawals before five continuous years of service can make the amount taxable, so think twice before touching the balance early; frequent partial withdrawals quietly shrink your retirement corpus.
- Voluntary Provident Fund contributions let you add more than the mandatory twelve percent at the same interest rate — a simple way to boost retirement savings without opening a new account.
- Check your EPF passbook yearly to confirm your employer is depositing on time; missing contributions discovered late are much harder to recover.
Frequently asked questions
How much of my salary goes into EPF each month?
You contribute twelve percent of your basic salary plus dearness allowance, and your employer contributes a matching twelve percent. Of the employer's share, eight point three three percent — up to a wage ceiling of fifteen thousand rupees — goes to the pension scheme (EPS), and the remainder lands in your EPF account. Both sides together make EPF one of the largest automatic savings most employees ever make.
Is EPF interest taxable?
EPF interest is tax-free up to the interest earned on employee contributions of two point five lakh rupees per year — five lakh rupees if your employer contributes to no other provident fund for you. Interest on contributions above these limits is taxable. These thresholds were introduced recently and rules keep evolving, so verify the current limits whenever you do serious retirement planning.
Can I withdraw my EPF while still employed?
Full withdrawal is generally allowed only after retirement or two months of unemployment. Partial withdrawals are permitted for specific needs such as buying a home, medical treatment, or children's education, subject to minimum service conditions. Frequent partial withdrawals quietly shrink your retirement corpus, so use them sparingly and only for genuine needs.
What happens to my EPF when I change jobs?
Your Universal Account Number (UAN) stays the same for life. When you join a new employer, link the new PF account to your existing UAN through the EPFO portal so all balances merge into one account. Transfer the balance instead of withdrawing it at every job change — this preserves your compounding and keeps your pensionable service continuous.
How do I check my actual EPF balance?
Log in to the EPFO member portal or the UMANG app with your UAN to view your passbook, which shows monthly contributions and the interest credited each year. You can also give a missed call or send an SMS from your registered mobile number. Checking once a year confirms your employer is depositing on time and keeps this calculator's projections honest.
What is the EPS pension part?
EPS, the Employees' Pension Scheme, receives eight point three three percent of your employer's contribution, capped by the fifteen-thousand-rupee wage ceiling. It funds a monthly pension after retirement instead of a lump sum. While this calculator projects only your EPF lump sum, the EPS pension is a separate benefit that adds to your retirement income — check your pensionable service years on the EPFO portal.
Note: Estimates for planning only — EPFO interest rates, wage ceilings, and tax rules change from time to time, so verify current figures before acting. This is not financial advice.