EPF / PF Calculator
Monthly split and projected corpus at retirement.
EPS is capped at 8.33% of the wage ceiling. The projection compounds monthly contributions annually at the rate above and assumes the rate holds — EPFO declares it each year, so treat the figure as an estimate.
Where your PF contribution actually goes
Almost everyone knows PF is “12% and 12%”. Far fewer know that the two 12%s do not go to the same place, which is why an EPF passbook rarely matches what people expect.
| Contribution | Rate | Goes to |
|---|---|---|
| Employee | 12% of Basic + DA | All of it to EPF |
| Employer | 8.33% of Basic + DA | EPS (pension), capped at the wage ceiling |
| Employer | 3.67% of Basic + DA | EPF |
The employer’s pension share is capped: 8.33% of the wage ceiling, not of your actual salary. At the current ₹15,000 ceiling that is a maximum of ₹1,250 a month to EPS, however much you earn. Everything above that from the employer’s 12% goes into EPF instead.
So an employee on a ₹60,000 basic does not get 8.33% of ₹60,000 into their pension. They get ₹1,250, and ₹5,950 into EPF.
The ceiling is about to change
The ₹15,000 wage ceiling has stood since September 2014. A proposal to raise it to ₹25,000 has been cleared by the Finance Ministry and is awaiting Cabinet approval.
If it goes through, the maximum EPS contribution rises from ₹1,250 to about ₹2,083 a month, and employees earning between ₹15,001 and ₹25,000 come into mandatory coverage. The calculator above lets you change the ceiling so you can see the effect on your own numbers either way.
The interest rate
EPF interest is declared annually by the EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees. It was 8.25% for FY 2025–26, the same as the year before. The rate for FY 2026–27 has not been declared yet, so the calculator defaults to 8.25% and lets you change it.
Interest is calculated on the monthly running balance and credited at year end, which is why the credit often appears months after the year closes.
Things worth knowing before you plan around it
- VPF — you can contribute more than 12% voluntarily. The employer is not obliged to match it, but it earns the same interest.
- Interest above ₹2.5 lakh of contributions in a year is taxable, so very high VPF contributions lose part of their advantage.
- Withdrawal before five years of continuous service is taxable; after five years it is exempt.
- EPS needs ten years of service to give a pension. Below that you can withdraw it instead.
- Transfer, do not withdraw, when changing jobs — the five-year clock counts continuous service across employers if you transfer.
Frequently asked questions
Is PF calculated on basic salary or gross salary?
On Basic + Dearness Allowance, not gross. HRA, conveyance and special allowances are excluded, which is why PF looks small relative to a large CTC.
Why is my employer’s contribution to EPF less than mine?
Because 8.33% of the employer’s 12% is diverted to the pension scheme (EPS) rather than EPF. Your 12% goes entirely to EPF; theirs is split.
What is the maximum EPS contribution?
8.33% of the wage ceiling. At the current ₹15,000 ceiling that is ₹1,250 a month, regardless of actual salary. If the ceiling rises to ₹25,000 it becomes about ₹2,083.
Is PF mandatory if my basic is above ₹15,000?
An establishment with 20 or more employees must be covered. An employee whose basic exceeds the ceiling at the time of joining and who was not previously a member can be treated as an excluded employee, but in practice most employers enrol everyone. Once you are a member, you stay one.
What is the current EPF interest rate?
8.25% for FY 2025–26. The rate for FY 2026–27 had not been declared at the time of writing.
Is PF withdrawal taxable?
Not after five years of continuous service. Withdrawn earlier, it is taxable — and service transferred between employers counts toward the five years, so transferring rather than withdrawing on a job change protects it.
For the employer side of this
Calculating one employee’s PF is simple. Producing a monthly ECR file that the EPFO portal accepts — for every employee, with UANs present and correct — is where payroll teams lose time, usually on the due date.
HivePayroll generates the PF ECR file from the same payroll run that produced the payslips, and a statutory KYC check flags missing UAN, PAN and bank details before a filing fails rather than after. See statutory compliance, or book a free demo.
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