PF covers three main schemes:
1. The Employees Provident Fund Scheme, 1952
2. The Employees Family Pension Scheme, 1971
3. The Employees Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976
Activities to be reported:
Return of Ownership / Change of Ownership
Monthly details of contributions
Filing return of employees Joinees / Leaving
Annual consolidated details of contributions
Declaration from employees
Monthly Returns (Before 25th)
The monthly returns, as listed below, should be submitted on or before 25th of the following month.
- Form 2 (Revised)
At the time of joining employee should fill form 2. It contains his personal details and nomination. Also for changing nominee names Form 2 is used. His eligibility begins on the date of joining the firm. It is to be submitted along with form-5.
- Form 5 & Form 10 containing employees additions and deletions
PF Form 5 is a monthly report which provides the details of the employees newly joining the Provident Fund scheme during the given month.
PF Form 10 is a monthly report that provides the details of the employees exiting from the Provident Fund scheme during the given month.
- Form 12A along with Triplicate copy challan,
PF Form 12A monthly report that provides the details of the PF Payments made to the respective PF Accounts of the Employees during the given month.
- E-Challan Return (ECR)
Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) is an electronic return in plain text format.
All employers of covered establishments under EPF can now file Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) from April 2012 and can dispense with filing physical returns in Form 5, 10, 12A, 3A, and 6A.
Annual Returns (Before 30 April every year)
Every year annual returns should be submitted on or before 30th April. The period for the annual return is March to Feb. Annual returns consist of Form 3A and Form 6A.
Form 3A – Member’s Annual Contribution Card:
Form showing month wise recoveries towards E.P.F and Pension Fund in respect of a member the concerned financial year to be furnished by the employer before 30th April of the following year.
Form 3: Contribution Cards
Individual Computation sheet contains all PF amts month-wise.
Form 4: Contribution card for employees other than monthly paid employees
Form 5 A: Return of Ownership to be sent to the Regional Commissioner
Form 6A – Consolidated Annual Contribution Statement:
This form provides annual contributions of each member of the establishment. A vital form for compiling the annual Provident Fund statement of a subscriber. To be submitted by 30th April.
Annual Account Statement
After the close of each period of contribution (March to Feb), annual statements of accounts will be sent by PF Department to each member through the factory or other establishment where the member was last employed.
The statement of accounts in the fund will show
- opening balance of contribution with interest of both employer and employee
- amount contributed during the year by both employer and employee,
- interest earned on the contributions made during the current year
- total of contributions by both employer and employee
Members should satisfy themselves as to the correctness of the annual statement of accounts and any error should be brought through the employer to the notice of the Provident Fund Office within 6 months of the receipt of the statement.
Withdrawal of Provident Fund and Pension Fund
A member is eligible to apply for withdrawing his provident fund and pension fund only after 2 months from the date of resignation, provided that he / she is not employed during the said 2 months.
The member should submit Form 19 to withdraw his provident fund dues on leaving service/retirement/termination.
To claim pension, the member is required to submit Form 10 C.
The member needs to fill in Forms 19 and 10c and get it signed from the previous employer and submit it to the provident fund office (in many cases, the employer will themselves help by submitting the forms).
Normally, it takes about 40 days to have the monies credited to the bank account of the member after submission of the relevant forms.
Taxability: The withdrawals are exempt from tax if the concerned employee has rendered continuous service of more than 5 years. Otherwise, it would be taxable at the applicable slab rates.
Transfer of Provident Fund monies from previous employer to current employer
A resigned employee who joins another company is left with an option of transferring the PF monies from his previous PF account to the current PF account, by filling the Form 13.
Form 13
- When an employee joins new company and he wishes to transfer his previous company provident fund amount, he should inform the HR department or Accounts department of the new company.
- The employer will issue Form 13, in which the member has to fill the details of previous company like – name, address, provident fund account number and address of the provident fund office where the account was held.
- On form 13, the signature of the previous employer is not required.
- Once he fills the required details and submit it to the current employer, the current employer will forward it to the provident fund office for transferring process.
- The time taken for transferring the fund from one account to other account normally takes about 40 days from date of submission.
In case of employee expired
Form 10 D (For claiming benefits under Pension)
Form 20 (For Claiming EPF Contributions)
Form 5 IF (For Claiming EDLI benefits, nominee will get benefit)
Declaration from employee - Form 11
Declaration of employee for not a member earlier with EPF, who are not covered under PF as their basic salary is above Rs.6500/-. Not to submit with PF office & kept by employer to be shown on inspection.
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