Introduction: Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF)

The Employee Provident Fund or EPF or PF is a saving plan introduced by government for the financial support after retirement. This is applicable for all salaried employees in India.

Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is regulated under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the authority which regulates this act is the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). EPF is an advantage to the employees which will support them at the time of retirement. PF can be considered as a perk provided to employees by the employer over basic remuneration.

It is mandatory for all employers to register their entity under EPFO if they have 20 or more employers appointed in their organization.

--------------Blog Contact Form-------------

Importance for registration

It is mandatory for all employers to register their entity under EPFO if they have 20 or more employers appointed in their organization.

This registration involves organisations contributing a fixed amount towards Employees against their PF out of employee salary and wages.

Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is regulated under the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the authority which regulates this act is the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).  According to this act, if an employer or any organisation fails to get EPF registration or represents false of facts in order to avoid PF payment, then the employer shall be liable for a penalty of INR 5,000/-

Eligibility for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF)

• PF registration for Employer is mandatory -
• Required by all types of entities like private limited, proprietorships, partnerships etc.
• Mandatory for all organisations having employees of more than 20
• Government organisation under the Central government
• Factory having 20 or more people

Benefits for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF)

• Risk coverage for the employees
• The same PF account can be carried forward to another organisation
• Employee Deposit Insurance Scheme under which 0.5% of the salary is deducted from the life insurance premium.
• urgent availability of funds
• Covers pension

Documents Required for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF)

• PAN card of the company
• Certificate of Registration
• Copy of the cancelled cheque;
• Partnership Deed/ MOA and AOA/ LLP deed/ Society or Trust deed
• PAN card and Aadhaar Card of the Directors or Partners or Proprietor
• GST certificate
• List of the employees with date of joining
• Name of the bank and the Bank’s address where the entity’s bank account
• DSC

Registration Procedure for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF)

• Register the organization with EPFO, login details will be provided
• Register DSC
• Provide the Employer’s Details -
• First Name – name of the company same as mentioned in Income Tax Department
• Employer PAN
• Select user Name
• Mention a Hint Question/ Answer
• Enter PIN sent on the registered mobile number
• Activate E-mail link

PF Return Filing

It is mandatory to file the PF returns for all employers having PF registration on a monthly basis. Return filing by employers can be done through the Unified Portal. The PF return includes – Monthly return and Yearly returns.

• Monthly Return - 25^th of every month
• Yearly Return - 30^th of April

Monthly PF Returns-

The filing needs to be done on or before 25^th of each month. Forms involved for the filing -

Form 2

Form 2 is filed for the purpose of declaring and nominating under the flagship schemes of the Employees Provident Fund and Employees Family Pension.
This form is required to be filed by an employee at the time of joining. This form is submitted along with Form 5.
This is divided into –

• Part A
• Part B

Both sections are required to be signed or a thumb impression at the end of the section.

Form 5

This form includes the details of the employees who have recently join the company and want to enrol themselves into provident fund scheme. This form includes --

• Organisation name
• Organisation’s address
• Organisation’s code number
• Employee’s account number
• Employee’s name
• Husband/father’s name
• Employee’s DOB
• Date of joining
• Work track record

The form is required to be filed and stamped by the employer.

Form 10

This form is filed to provide a monthly report along with the details of the employees who have enrolled under this scheme of provident fund. The details required to be added in this form -

• Account number of the employee
• Employee name
• Father/husband’s name
• Service leaving date along with the reason

The form is required to be filed and stamped by the employer.

Form 12A

This form includes the details of the payments paid or contributed to the employee’s account in a particular month.

Annual PF Return Filing-

These are to be filed once a year on or before 30th of April. These forms involve the filing of –

Form 3A

Known as a member’s annual contribution card, Form 3A depicts the month-wise contributions made by the subscriber/member and employer towards E.P.F and Pension Fund in a particular year. The data is calculated for every member who is a part of the scheme. In addition to it, the scheme will include the following details:

• Account number
• Subscriber’s name
• Father/ husband’s name
• Name and address of the company
• Contribution’s statutory rate
• If any voluntary contribution rate

The form is required to be filed and stamped by the employer.

Form 6A

This form is required to provide the consolidated data of the annual contribution statement along with the details of annual contributions of all the members of the organisation. The form is submitted with the details -

• Account Number
• Member/subscriber’s name
• D.A, wage, retaining allowance
• Employees contribution deducted
• Employers' contribution with EPF and Pension details
• Advance refund

The amount Remitted column of the form includes -

• Contribution month
• Remitted contribution which includes the advance refund
• Contribution of pension fund
• Contribution of EDLI
• Administration charges
• Aggregate contributions

Expert’s Advice –

It’s really import for an organisation to provide the benefit of the “Provident Fund” as it is considered as an advantage to the employees as it provides an opportunity to the employees with savings options. The PF registration is quite easy to get done but it is equally important to file the returns. You can take a expert's advice for the same. Feel free to contact Corpseed.