Tax implications on withdrawal of EPF and NPS

This query is : Open

NB (Querist)
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03 February 2025 Dear Experts. I have seen / heard conflicting comments on this issue. Hence bringing it up to the CA experts here. Appreciate if more experts share their views on the below

1. EPF: As per EPFO rules, a salaried employee can continue his EPF membership without any restrictions. However if no contribution is received in the account for 3 consecutive years, after 3 years no interest will be earned. Income Tax Act says EPF withdrawal upon retirement is tax free. Given this situation, in case of an employee who works with a company for more than 5 years, retires at age 60, does not withdraw the EPF accumulation until age 63, will the interest earned between age 60 and 63 be a tax free income or is it taxable?
2. NPS: Upon retirement at 60 years, a subscriber can withdraw 60% of the corpus as a lumpsum, which is tax free and has to take an annuity for the balance 40%. PFRDA has recently introduced a new withdrawal option “Systematic Lumpsum Withdrawal (SLW)”. Under SLW, a subscriber can make the withdrawals in a phased manner instead of a lumpsum. Withdrawals can be made monthly, quarterly, half yearly or annually upto age 75. If a retiree opts for SLW, are the returns earned during the deferment period tax free? Deferment period refers to time from age 60 upto period when SLW ends, max 75 years.