Transfer EPF Balance: Step-by-Step Process

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Hiral Vakil

EPF
EPF Balance
EPFO Portal
Section 80C
Last updated on April 16th, 2021

Any company with more than 20 employees is required by law to register with the Employee’s Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). A mandatory contribution is made to an employee’s PF account, every month. When an employee changes a job, he/she can transfer this balance from an old account to the new one. In order to transfer EPF balance, one must have an active UAN account. Also, Aadhaar and bank details must be seeded against their UAN account.

Employee’s contribution to EPF was deductible from income tax under section 80C. However, as per the recent announcement in Budget 2021, interest earned on annual PF contribution exceeding INR 2.5 lacs from April 2021 will now be taxable.

Steps to transfer EPF balance online: 

  1. Go to EPFO Member’s portal

    Click on Login from the Home Page

  2. Login to your account

    Use your UAN and PasswordTransfer EPF Balance- Step 2- Login

  3. Next Go to Online Services

    Click on One Member one EPF Account (Transfer Request)Transfer EPF Balance- Step 3- Transfer Request

  4. Verify personal information and PF account for the present employment

    If you dont do this step your claim will not be processed: Transfer EPF Balance- Step 4- Personal Information

  5. Click ‘Get Details’

    This will help obtain PF account details of the previous employmentTransfer EPF Balance- Step 5- Get Details

  6. Select the employer for attestation of a claim.

    It could be a previous employer or current employer based on the availability of authorised signatory holding DSC.Transfer EPF Balance- Step 6- Select Employer

  7. Click on ‘Get OTP’ to receive OTP to UAN registered mobile number

    Enter the OTP and submit the transfer request. Transfer EPF Balance- Step 7- Get OTP

The employer will approve EPF Request digitally by accessing the employer interface of EPFO. Submit the self-attested copy of your online PF transfer request in pdf format to your selected employer within 10 days of submitting the request online.

FAQs:

What is UAN? 

UAN is short for Universal Account Number which is allotted by Employees Fund Organisation (EPFO). It can be issued only to the individuals who have a valid PF number. UAN acts as an umbrella which links multiple Member Identification Numbers issued to a single member under single Universal Account Number. When members switch organisations, they are allotted different IDs. Through UAN, a member will be able to view details of all his IDs linked to it.
If a member is already allotted Universal Account Number (UAN) then he / she is required to provide the same upon joining a new establishment. This will enable the employer to mark the new allotted Member Identification Number (Member Id) to the already allotted Universal Identification Number (UAN).

How to check the status of a claim? 

Employees can check the status of their EPF balance transfer/withdrawal claims through various modes. They can check the claim status through EPFO member portal, by SMS or by using the EPFO mobile app. Here are steps to check status of claim on EPFO member portal:
1. Go to EPFO Portal
2. Go to Our Services > For Employees
3. Click on ‘Know Your Claim Status’
4. Enter your UAN, Captcha and click on Search
5. Enter the State of your PF office, your establishment code, PF account number and click on submit.

Do all companies need to register for EPFO?

No, only companies with more than 20 employees are required to register for EPFO. For companies with lesser employees, it is optional.

Got Questions? Ask Away!

  1. Hey @sushil_verma

    There are a wide range of deductions that you can claim. Apart from Section 80C tax deductions, you could claim deductions up to INR 25,000 (INR 50,000 for Senior Citizens) buying Mediclaim u/s 80D. You can claim a deduction of INR 50,000 on home loan interest under Section 80EE.

  2. Hey @Dia_malhotra , there are many deductions that you can avail of. Your salary package may include different allowances like House Rent Allowance (HRA), conveyance, transport allowance, medical reimbursement, etc. Additionally, some of these allowances are exempt up to a certain limit under section 10 of the Income Tax Act.

    For eg,

    • Medical allowance is exempt up to INR 15,000 on a reimbursement basis.
    • Children education allowance is exempt up to Rs. 200 per child per month up to a maximum of two children.
    • Conveyance allowance is exempt up to a maximum of Rs. 1600 per month.

    Tax on employment and entertainment allowance will also be allowed as a deduction from the salary income. Employment tax is deducted from your salary by your employer and then it is deposited to the state government.

  3. The benefit Section 80EEB can be claimed by individuals only. An individual taxpayer can claim interest on loan of an electric vehicle of up to INR 1.5 lacs u/s 80EEB. However, if the electric vehicle is used for the purpose of business, the vehicle should be reported as an asset, loan should be reported as a liability and the interest on loan can be claimed as a business expense irrespective of the amount. (We have updated the article with the changes).

    Thus, if you have a proprietorship business, you should claim interest amount as a business expense only if the vehicle is used for business purpose. However, if it is used for personal purpose, you can claim deduction of interest u/s 80EEB in your ITR since you would be reporting both personal and business income in the ITR (under your PAN).

    As per the Income Tax Act, the deduction under Section 80EEB is applicable from 1st April 2020 i.e. FY 2020-21.

  4. Hey @Sharath_thomas , we have updated the content according to the appropriate assessment year. Thanks for the feedback. :slight_smile:

  5. Hey @shindeonkar95

    In case of capital gain income (LTCG/STCG), transfer expenses are allowed as deduction, except STT.

    However, in case of business income (F&O, intraday), all expenses incurred for the business (including STT) are eligible to claim deduction in ITR.

    Hope, it helps!

  6. Hello,

    Is it possible to claim deductions under S. 80CCF for Infra bonds bought in the secondary market and held to maturity?

    There were a number of 10 year infra bonds issued in the 2010- 2013 period, which will start maturing soon. These are all listed on the exchanges (although hardly any liquidity or transactions in them). If I were to buy some of these bonds in the open markets and hold them in my demat to maturity (<3 years), is it possible to claim tax deductions (upto 20k per year) under 80CCF for buying?

    I couldn’t find anything on this. Any help is appreciated.

  7. Hello @Veejayy,

    Yes you can claim deduction under 80CCF for investment made in specified infrastructure and other tax saving bonds bought in the secondary market and held to maturity.

    Deduction under Section 80CCF can be availed only through investment in certain tax saving bonds, issued by banks or corporations after gaining permission from the government which shall be restricted upto 10,000 per year.

    These bonds are generally long term bonds, having tenure of more than 5 years with a lock in period of 5 years in most of the cases. These bonds can be sold after the lock in period!

    Also, interest earned on these bonds will be taxable.

    Hope this helps!

  8. Hi, I need to file my income tax for FY21, I am using Quicko platform for filing, I wanted to confirm if the ELSS investment amount for the FY21 is to be added in the section 80C, since I already the amount of Rs30,072 , should I add my ELSS amount to this existing amount and submit the total

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