EPF withdrawal for home: Who all are eligible for this? Find out

EPF or Employees Provident Fund is one of the smartest investment options. It allows salaried class to save money and earn a big interest rate without having to put in an extra effort. What a lot of people don’t know is that the EPFO also allows them to withdraw this money at different points to meet immediate financial requirements – one of which is for purchasing or renovating house. 

This is one of the tasks that requires a large amount of money. For salaried class, it is not possible to buy a house without digging into their savings or investments. EPFO allows its employees for partial withdrawals, which is 90 per cent of the accumulations, from their PF accounts. The partial withdrawals made are tax-free. The same amount can also be used for loan repayment. 

However, this withdrawal is only possible if one has been in service for 5 years.

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Who is eligible for withdrawal?

Buying or constructing a house: Anyone who is buying or constructing a new house or a flat can use their EPF savings. 

If an individual has completed his five years of service then only they are eligible for withdrawing the amount partially which is tax-free. 

Amount withdrawal is only possible if the property would be in self's name, spouse's name or joint ownership. 

How much can you withdraw?

An employee can withdraw a maximum of 36 times their basic salary. If one does not have that much amount then the closest available amount is available for withdrawal.

How to apply for withdrawal?

Log in to the EPFO portal using UAN and password

Go to the 'Online Services' tab 

Click on the 'Claim' tab to generate an online request

Check if your information is correct and click on the option 'Proceed for 'Online Claim'Select the type of claim which you would like to apply for and then select 'PF ADVANCE (FORM 31)' from the drop-down menu

Select the reason for advance from the drop-down menu

Fill the required amount and your current address

Enter the OTP and click on 'Validate OTP and Submit Claim Form'.