Introduction
Employee Provident Fund (EPF/PF) is a retirement savings plan that the government of India has mandated for all salaried employees.
The funds deducted from your salary as EPF goes to your EPF account,
which is maintained by the EPF Organization.
All organizations in India that have more than 20 employees, as per law, is mandated to register with EPFO.
Generally, it is a savings platform provided by the government to help the employees build a corpus for post-retirement life.
EPF Form 31 also called as PF Advance Form 31/EPF Withdrawal Form 31 is utilised to file a claim for partial withdrawal of funds from EPF or Employees’ Provident Fund.
Let’s discuss more about “What is PF Advance Form 31?”.
What is PF Advance Form 31
In case of a financial emergency, this corpus can also be withdrawn to meet the requirements during the employment tenure.
There is an online facility offered by the PF Organization for the employees who wish to apply for an PF advance.
A partial withdrawal can be applied for by filling PF Form 31.
This form 31 is available online on the UAN Portal.
The employee easily needs to use his/her log in details.
Also, basic KYC such as the Aadhar card, PAN card as well as the bank account details need to be updated on the UAN Portal beforehand, to carry on the further formalities of PF advance.
| Form Name | EPF Form 31 or PF Form 31 |
| Known as | PF Advance Form 31 |
| Organization | EPFO |
| Submitted for | Application for advance or loam from the PF. |
What is PF Advance Form 31 Rules
Here are New and Important rules about PF advance withdrawal:
- Partial withdrawal from EPF accounts is permitted in condition of an emergency such as medical emergency, house purchase or construction, and higher education.
- Funds from the EPF account cannot be withdrawn during employment. EPF is a long-term retirement savings plan.
- PF partial withdrawal is subject to limits depending on the reason.
- The PF holder can request online for partial withdrawal. Even if the EPF corpus can be withdrawn after retirement only, early retirement is not considered until the account holder reaches 55 years of age.
- Tax is deducted at source on premature withdrawal.
Although, if the entire amount is less than Rs 50,000, then TDS is not applicable. - if an employee provides PAN card with the application, the applicable TDS rate is 10 percentage Otherwise, it is 30 percentage plus tax. Form 15H or 15G is a declaration form, which states that a person’s total income is not taxable and thus, TDS is avoidable.
- EPFO allows withdrawal of 90 percentage of the EPF corpus one year before retirement, provided the person is not less than 54 years old.
- The EPF corpus can be withdrawn if a holder faces unemployment before retirement due to lock-down or retrenchment.
- The EPF holder has to declare unemployment in order to withdraw the EPF amount.
- As per the new rule, EPFO allows withdrawal of 75 percentage of the EPF corpus after one month of unemployment.
The remaining 25 percentage can be transferred to a new EPF account after gaining new employment.
When can you use PF Advance Form 31
Account holder can make withdrawals based on the below listed circumstances.
Listed below are the withdrawal purpose, the minimum service requirement to be eligible to make the withdrawal, the withdrawal limit.
| Reasons | Minimum service (Year) | Withdrawal Limit |
|---|---|---|
| House Construction or purchase of plot | 5 | Land purchase – An amount of up to 24 times of an subscriber’s monthly wages and DA (dearness allowance) can be withdrawn. For house – Subscriber can withdraw up to 36 times their monthly wages and dearness allowance. |
| Home Loan Repayment | 3 | Maximum 90% of PF balance. Property purchased should be registered under the name of the subscriber or joint ownership. |
| House renovation | 5 | 12 times the monthly salary of subscriber. |
| Marriage | 7 | 50% of the employee’s contribution along with interest. |
| Medical | Not required | 6 times the monthly salary OR Employee’s share with interest whichever is lower. |
| Education | 7 | Subscriber can withdraw up to 50% of their contribution to the EPF. |
Documents required to submit PF Advance Form 31
| Reasons | Documents required |
|---|---|
| House Construction or purchase of plot | Declaration and Registration certificate of the property. |
| Home Loan Repayment | Certificate from the agency stating the outstanding principal along with interest. |
| House renovation | Certificate from the agency. |
| Marriage | Declaration within Form 31. |
| Medical | Certificate by the employer and doctor. |
| Education | Certificate from institute. |
How to Fill PF Advance Form 31 Online
- Visit the official website of EPFO.
- Log in to your account by entering the UAN, password, and captcha, and then clicking on ‘Sign in’ bottom.
- Select the option ‘Form-31, 19, 10C & 10D’ under the ‘Online Services’ main menu item.
- Enter the last 4 digits of your bank account number and verify it.
- Click on ‘Yes’ bottom when the ‘Certificate of Undertaking’ pop-up window asks you to agree to the terms and conditions.
- Select the ‘Proceed for Online Claim’ and choose the ‘PF Withdrawal’ option from the dropdown menu as shown in the image below.
- Select the ‘PF Advance Form’ and enter the details link purpose of withdrawal, withdrawal amount, and other relevant details.
- Click ‘Submit’ to complete the online application process.
Download EPF Form 31
How to submit EPF Form 31 offline
- Download EPF Form 31 as specified above and fill up the relevant information in the form.
- Upon filling, contact employer and get a certification validating your employment with them.
Ask them to fill the designation, date of joining, and signature fields in the form. - Submit the duly filled form to the respective EPFO office.
EPF form 31 claim status
Subscriber can check the status of their online withdrawal by following the steps given below
- Log in to the UAN Portal with your UAN and Password.
- Click on the ‘Online Services’ option at top menu and a drop down will appear.
- Click on ‘Track Claim Status’ option.
- The status of your online withdrawal will appear on the screen.