Project your EPF retirement corpus from your monthly basic salary, existing balance, expected salary growth and the EPF interest rate.
How EPF corpus builds
Your EPF corpus receives 12% of basic+DA from you and 3.67% from your employer each month (the employer's remaining 8.33% goes to the EPS pension, not the corpus). The balance compounds at the EPF interest rate, which has averaged around 8.25-8.4%. Figures are projections; actual rates are declared yearly by EPFO.
How EPF grows
Each month you contribute 12% of basic pay plus DA, and your employer contributes another 12%. Of the employer’s share, 8.33% of wages (on a wage ceiling of ₹15,000, so at most ₹1,250 a month) goes to the Employees’ Pension Scheme; the rest goes into your EPF. EPF earns 8.25% for FY 2025-26, the rate notified in 2026, compounded annually on monthly running balances.
Worked example
Basic pay of ₹40,000 a month: you put in ₹4,800 and the employer adds ₹3,550 to EPF (₹1,250 goes to EPS), so ₹8,350 a month builds your EPF. With 5% annual salary growth for 30 years at 8.25%, the balance reaches about ₹2.2 crore, from about ₹72 lakh of total contributions.
Tax rules
- Withdrawals are tax-free after 5 years of continuous service (including service carried over through transfers).
- Interest on your own contributions above ₹2.5 lakh a year (₹5 lakh if the employer does not contribute) is taxable each year — see the ₹2.5 lakh rule.
- Withdrawing before 5 years attracts tax and possibly TDS — see early withdrawal tax.
Keep your EPF growing
Transfer your balance whenever you change jobs instead of withdrawing it, and check your passbook once a year. See EPF transfer on job change and how to check your EPF balance. Adding a voluntary contribution (VPF) earns the same rate — compare in EPF vs VPF vs PPF.
FAQs
Is the EPF rate fixed?
No. It is declared every year; it has stayed between 8.1% and 8.8% over the last decade.
Does EPS add to this corpus?
No. EPS pays a separate monthly pension and is not shown in this projection.
Figures last checked October 2026. Calculator results are estimates; actual lender, fund or tax outcomes can differ.