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For individualsRates reviewed September 2026

EPF Calculator: Contributions, Interest and Corpus

An EPF calculator projects what the Employees' Provident Fund will be worth when you stop contributing. You pay 12% of basic wages and dearness allowance, your employer pays a matching 12%, and interest is credited on the running balance at the rate the Central Board of Trustees recommends each year and the Government notifies.

The employer's half does not all reach your provident fund. Of that 12%, an amount equal to 8.33% of wages goes to the Employees' Pension Scheme and only the balance is credited to your EPF account. The pension diversion is computed on wages up to the ₹15,000 statutory ceiling, so it stops at ₹1,250 a month however much you earn, and everything above that stays in the provident fund. That diverted money builds the pension the EPS calculator on this site works out, not the corpus this page projects.

The interest rate for FY 2025-26 is 8.25%, recommended by the Central Board of Trustees and notified for crediting to member accounts, the third consecutive year at that figure. Interest is worked out on the monthly running balance and credited once at the close of the financial year, so a contribution made in April earns for twelve months and one made in March earns for one.

One tax rule cuts across all of this. Interest on your own contributions above ₹2,50,000 in a financial year is taxable, under the computation in Rule 9D introduced by Notification No. 95/2021. The threshold is ₹5,00,000 where the employer makes no contribution to the fund, which is the position in most statutory and government provident funds.

EPF Calculator

Not cost to company. Under the Labour Codes, allowances above 50% of total remuneration are added back.

₹
years
years

Contributing on actual wages leaves far more in EPF, because the pension share stays capped.

8.25% was notified for FY 2025-26. The rate is declared afresh every year.

%
%
₹

EPF corpus

₹1,31,16,657

₹1.31 crore at 58, from ₹46,25,983 contributed over 28 years

Wage base for the contributionActual wages, not restricted to the ₹15,000 ceiling
₹30,000
Your contribution at 12%, monthly₹43,200 in the first year
₹3,600
Employer share to the pension scheme, monthly8.33% of wages up to ₹15,000, so never above ₹1,250
₹1,250
Employer share to EPF, monthlyThe balance of the employer's 12% after the pension diversion
₹2,350
Total credited to EPF each month₹71,400 in the first year, rising with wages
₹5,950
Total contributed to EPFOver 28 years of contributions
₹46,25,983
Interest credited at 8.25%64.73% of the final corpus
₹84,90,674
EPF corpus at the end₹1.31 crore
₹1,31,16,657
Diverted to the pension schemeFunds the EPS-95 pension and forms no part of this corpus
₹4,20,000
Your own contribution in the final yearWithin the ₹2,50,000 threshold, so the interest stays exempt
₹1,61,285
  • Interest is computed on the monthly running balance and credited in a single entry at the close of the financial year, so a contribution made in April earns for twelve months and one made in March earns for one.
  • The rate is declared afresh each year, so holding it flat across the whole projection is an illustration rather than a forecast.
  • The 8.33% diverted to the Employees' Pension Scheme is not part of this corpus. It buys the EPS-95 pension, which the EPS calculator works out from pensionable salary and service divided by 70.
  • Wages are above the ₹15,000 ceiling and the employer is contributing on actual wages, so the pension share stays at ₹1,250 a month and the whole of the excess is credited to EPF.
  • A withdrawal before five years of continuous service breaks the compounding and brings the accumulated balance back into tax, so transfer the account on a job change rather than closing it.

The formula

Monthly credit to EPF = 12% of wages (employee) + 12% of wages less 8.33% of capped wages (employer), with interest on the monthly running balance credited at year end

Wages
Basic wages plus dearness allowance plus retaining allowance, read with the Code on Social Security definition that restricts excluded allowances to 50% of total remuneration.
12% employee share
Your own contribution, deducted from salary each month and eligible for deduction under Section 80C of the 1961 Act, carried forward into the Income-tax Act, 2025.
8.33% EPS diversion
The part of the employer's 12% that funds the Employees' Pension Scheme, computed on wages up to ₹15,000 and therefore capped at ₹1,250 a month.
₹15,000 wage ceiling
The statutory wage limit for mandatory coverage. An employer may contribute on actual wages above it, but the pension diversion never exceeds the capped amount.
8.25% interest
The rate for FY 2025-26, computed on the monthly running balance and credited to the account at the close of the year rather than month by month.

The rate is declared afresh every year, so a projection over twenty or thirty years at today's rate is an illustration and not a promise. It is distinct from the EPS pension, which the EPS calculator works out from pensionable salary and service.

How to calculate it

  1. 1

    Fix the wages the contribution runs on

    Take basic wages and dearness allowance, not cost to company. Since the Code on Social Security came into force allowances above 50% of total remuneration are added back, which raises the base for many allowance-heavy structures.

  2. 2

    Split the employer's 12%

    An amount equal to 8.33% of wages up to ₹15,000 goes to the pension scheme, so at or above the ceiling it is ₹1,250 a month. The rest of the employer's 12% is credited to your EPF account alongside your own share.

  3. 3

    Decide the wage base your employer uses

    An employer may restrict contributions to the ₹15,000 ceiling or pay on actual wages. Contributing on actual wages leaves far more in the provident fund, because the pension share stays fixed and every extra rupee goes to EPF.

  4. 4

    Apply interest on the running balance

    Interest accrues on the balance each month at one twelfth of the annual rate and is credited in a single entry at the end of the financial year, so the timing of contributions within the year affects the amount credited.

  5. 5

    Watch the taxable interest threshold

    Where your own contributions in a year exceed ₹2,50,000, the interest on the excess is taxable and the fund maintains separate taxable and non-taxable contribution accounts under Rule 9D.

  6. 6

    Keep the account through job changes

    Transfer the balance to the new employer rather than withdrawing it. A withdrawal before five years of continuous service breaks the compounding and brings the accumulated balance back into tax.

EPF contribution and interest parameters, FY 2026-27

EPF contribution and interest parameters, FY 2026-27
ItemRate or limit
Employee contribution12% of basic wages plus dearness allowance
Employer contribution12% of basic wages plus dearness allowance
Of which diverted to the pension scheme8.33% of wages up to ₹15,000, so ₹1,250 a month at the ceiling
Of which credited to EPFThe balance of the employer's 12%
Statutory wage ceiling₹15,000 a month
Interest rate for FY 2025-268.25%, on the monthly running balance, credited at year end
Interest on own contributions above the thresholdTaxable beyond ₹2,50,000 a year, or ₹5,00,000 where the employer does not contribute

Worked example

Basic wages plus DA
₹30,000 a month
Current age
30 years
Age at which contributions stop
58 years
Employer contributes on
Actual wages, not the ₹15,000 ceiling
Interest rate assumed throughout
8.25%
Annual increase in wages
5%
  • Employee share = 12% of ₹30,000 = ₹3,600 a month
  • Pension diversion = 8.33% of the capped ₹15,000 = ₹1,250 a month
  • Employer share to EPF = ₹3,600 less ₹1,250 = ₹2,350 a month
  • Total credited to EPF in the first year = ₹5,950 x 12 = ₹71,400
  • Wages, and therefore contributions, rise 5% a year for 28 years while interest runs at 8.25%

EPF corpus at 58 = ₹1,31,16,657, of which ₹46,25,983 is your own and the employer's contributions and ₹84,90,674 is interest. A further ₹4,20,000 went to the pension scheme and forms no part of this corpus.

Frequently asked questions

8.25% for FY 2025-26. The Central Board of Trustees recommended that rate and it was notified for crediting to the accounts of members, the third consecutive year at the same figure. The rate is decided afresh each year on the surplus the corpus earns, so a long projection made at today's rate is an illustration rather than a guaranteed outcome.
The employer pays 12% of wages. An amount equal to 8.33% of wages is diverted to the Employees' Pension Scheme and the balance of the 12% is credited to your provident fund account. The pension share is computed on wages up to the ₹15,000 ceiling, so it stops at ₹1,250 a month, and every rupee of the employer's contribution above that stays in EPF.
Coverage is mandatory only up to ₹15,000 of wages, but an employer may agree to contribute on your actual wages and most organised employers do. If it contributes on actual wages your EPF credit rises proportionately while the pension diversion stays fixed at ₹1,250 a month, so the whole of the increase lands in the provident fund rather than the pension scheme.
Interest on your own contributions up to ₹2,50,000 in a financial year remains exempt. Interest attributable to contributions above that threshold is taxable, computed under Rule 9D introduced by Notification No. 95/2021, and the fund maintains separate taxable and non-taxable contribution accounts for the purpose. Where the employer makes no contribution to the fund the threshold is ₹5,00,000 instead.
Interest is computed on the balance standing to your credit at the end of each month at one twelfth of the annual rate, and the total for the twelve months is credited in a single entry at the close of the financial year. Because of that, a contribution made early in the year earns for almost the whole year while one made in March earns for a single month.
EPF is a provident fund: a balance that belongs to you, earns interest and is paid out as a lump sum. EPS is a defined benefit pension funded by the 8.33% diversion from the employer's share, and it pays a monthly pension worked out from pensionable salary and pensionable service divided by 70 rather than from any balance in your name. The two are worked out separately and this page projects only the provident fund.
The rates did not change but the base did. Since the Code on Social Security, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025, the statutory definition of wages restricts excluded allowances to 50% of total remuneration, so where allowances exceed that share the excess is added back into wages. Employers that had kept basic pay low to hold down provident fund cost have had to lift the contribution base as a result.

Sources

Rates and rules on this page come from the following. This is a working aid, not professional advice: confirm anything material with your Chartered Accountant before you act on it.

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