PF RETURNS

EPF is an ideal retirement fund in which both the employer and the employee contribute an amount equal to 12% each of the employee’s salary (basic and dearness allowance) to the EPF, at fixed equal intervals. However, only the employers that are registered and their employees can contribute to this fund. The interest received on the total accumulated amount (deposit and the interest received) is tax-free. Employer registration can be done voluntarily or through the statute mandate.

To ensure the safety of the fund and timely payments by employers and employees, provisions with respect to the fund are governed by The Employers’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (PF Act). As per the act, all the companies that have employed more than 20 individuals including the ones on contractual basis must register under the PF Act. It must be noted that after the activation of PF Act, even if the number of employees in the organization gets lower than 20, the employer organization will still be governed by the PF Act.

Deadlines for EPF Payment and EPF Return
EPF payment due date is the date by which PF from the employees’ salary should be deducted. This should be done on or before the 15th of every next month. However, the due date of PF return and the due date of PF payment are both the same, i.e. on or before the 15th of every month.

Late Payment Penalty in EPF
Upon the late payment of EPF Challan, the following two penalties are applied-

1. Interest for late payment under Section 7Q- An interest of 12% per annum, for every single day is levied on the employer if he/she fails to deposit the EPF contribution before the deadline
2. Penalty for late payment under Section 14B- In case of failure of Challan payment, the following penalties should be incurred-  
     a. 5% interest per annum for a delay of upto 2 months
     b. 10% interest per annum for a delay of 2-4 months
     c. 15% interest per annum for a delay of 4-6 months
     d. 25% interest per annum for a delay of more than 6 months

Objectives of the Fund
Employee Provident Fund, launched by the Ministry of Labour has the following objectives-

a. The fund’s major objective is to manage the provident fund of the government, public and private sector employees, helping them financially on their retirement
b. Contributions to the fund are made compulsory on part of the employers and employees leading to mobilization of savings
c. Favoring its members, the Employee Provident Fund intends to generate maximum returns on the investment
d. The fund enables its members to conduct research activities and explore certain welfare schemes
e. EPF focuses on undertaking the activities that ultimately provide social security to the members of the fund

Eligibility
The following eligibility conditions must be met in order to avail the benefits of EPF-

a. Employee must be an active member of the scheme
b. If the employee is working with a registered organization, he/she can directly avail the benefits of insurance and pension since the day he/she joined the organization
c. The organization must have a minimum of 20 employees

It must be noted that the scheme does not cater to the employees of Jammu and Kashmir (an erstwhile state). 

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED
The following documents are required to register for an employee PF account-

For organizations-

     * Name of the company
     * Certificate of Registration or Incorporation certificate of the company
     * Partnership deed, in case of partnership firm or LLP
     * ID proof of the directors of the company
     * List of all the directors along with their contact details

Along with the above-mentioned documents, all the entities (Proprietor/ Company/ Society/Trust) must have the following documents while applying for registration of PF-

     * Bill of the first sale
     * Bill of the first purchase of raw material and machinery
     * GST Certificate, if the organization is registered under GST   
     * Name and address of the bankers and the bank
     * Monthly record of the employee strength
     * Register of the salary and wages, all vouchers, balance sheets from day one to the current date of                   provisional coverage
     * Date of joining of the employees, along with their father’s name and date of birth
     * Salary and PF statement
     * Cross cancelled cheque