5 Reasons Why I Love EPF Deduction from Salary

Do you feel depressed looking at the PF deduction in your salary slip every month? After reading this post, you will probably not feel so bad about it. Every month, 12.33% of your basic salary excluding other heads like HRA, DA, and other allowances is deducted every month towards Employee Provident Fund (EPF).

Today, in this article I will share why I don’t feel bad about the PF deduction reflected in salary slip.

1. For every Rupee deducted, your employer contributes another Rupee towards your EPF and Pension Fund. As per the EPF scheme, employers are required to contribute the same amount as deducted from your salary.  The entire amount deduced from your salary and two-third of that contributed by your employer is deposited towards EPF. The balance one-third of the amount contributed by the employer is deposited towards Employee Pension Scheme (EPS), whereby you create a corpus to earn pension post retirement.

2. EPF is totally safe, secure and tax-free:  The EPF fund is managed by the EPFO, a government of India organization and is invested only in government or government approved securities. The return on EPF is also fixed by the government every year. 
So, EPF money carries almost nil risk. The income from EPF is also totally exempt from income tax. In case your PF is managed by a company trust, even then the trust is governed by EPFO rules and investments are to be made strictly as per rules. So, even if the company goes bankrupt, it is unlikely that there would be any risk to the amount invested in your PF.

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3. EPF cannot be attached in case of bankruptcy: Say, if you happen to default on a loan  taken from a bank or you need to pay some government dues. Banks and tax authorities can attach your personal property and even bank account. However, balance in EPF account is exempt from being attached under any circumstances and can be claimed by you without any problem.

4. You can nominate your near and dear ones for your EPF:

EPF offers nomination facility on all accounts. Nominee will be contacted by the company or EPFO in case of death of the employee and balance will be paid to the nominee. In case the nominee is not registered, the balance can still be claimed by your legal heirs but the process may take longer.

Now, are you more comfortable with EPF deduction just like I am? 
I hope so. So, how about putting some extra money in your EPF account? Yes, you have the option of investing more in your Provident Fund in the form of Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF).  However, note that there is no matching contribution in case of VPF.

Still not convinced that EPF deduction is a good thing? Here’s what you can do. You can opt out of EPF if you want. Yes, it’s possible to opt out of EPF. It may seem surprising for many people. If you earn a basic salary of more than Rs. 6,500 per month, you have the option to out of EPF. In such case, you will not see any EPF deduction in your monthly salary slip. However, you have to opt out of EPF only in the beginning of your job.