See how much goes into your provident fund each month. Your own 12% goes fully to EPF, but your employer's 12% is split between EPF and the EPS pension scheme.
Both you and your employer contribute 12% of basic salary plus dearness allowance.
Your entire contribution goes into EPF.
From the employer's share, 8.33% goes to the pension scheme — but only on wages up to the statutory ceiling of ₹15,000, so the pension share stops growing above that.
Whatever is left of the employer's 12% goes into EPF.
Employee share: 12% of (basic + DA)
Employer share: 12% of (basic + DA)
→ EPS (pension): 8.33%, capped at the ₹15,000 ceiling wage
→ EPF: Employer share − EPS
The Employees' Provident Fund is a compulsory retirement savings scheme for most salaried employees in organised workplaces. Each month you and your employer both contribute 12% of basic pay plus DA. But the employer's share is split: part goes to the Employees' Pension Scheme, and only the rest goes into your EPF account. This calculator shows your share, the employer's share, the pension part and the EPF part, monthly and yearly.
Employees use it to understand their payslip, to check that deductions match their basic pay, and to plan retirement savings. A chartered accountant in Nagpur with a basic of ₹42,000 may be surprised that the employer's EPF credit is lower than her own. The calculator answers: how much goes into my provident fund each month, and how much of the employer's share goes to pension instead?
1. Take monthly basic pay plus DA as W.
2. Employee contribution = 12% of W, all of it into EPF.
3. Employer contribution = 12% of W.
4. Pension (EPS) part = 8.33% of the smaller of W and the ₹15,000 wage ceiling, when the ceiling applies.
5. Employer EPF part = employer contribution − EPS part.
6. Total monthly contribution = employee + employer; multiply by 12 for the yearly total.
EPF and EPS serve two purposes. EPF is a savings account that pays a lump sum with interest. EPS pays a monthly pension after retirement, based on service and pensionable salary, not on the amount in an account. To fund the pension, 8.33% of wages goes from the employer's share into EPS. Your own 12% is never diverted, so your EPF balance receives your full share plus the employer's remainder.
EPS contributions are calculated on wages only up to the statutory ceiling of ₹15,000 a month, as the calculator applies it. So the pension part is at most 8.33% of ₹15,000, about ₹1,250 a month, however high your basic is. For a basic of ₹15,000 or less, the employer's EPF share is only about 3.67% of wages. For higher basics, more of the employer's 12% flows into EPF, because the pension part stays fixed.
The calculator lets you switch the ceiling off. This models cases where pension contributions are paid on full wages, for example members who opted for a higher pension under the scheme's rules. Then the EPS part becomes 8.33% of the full basic, and the employer's EPF share becomes very small. The total employer cost is the same 12% either way; only the split between pension and savings changes.
Shalini, a chartered accountant at a firm in Nagpur, has a monthly basic plus DA of ₹42,000, and her employer applies the ₹15,000 pension wage ceiling.
Answer: Total monthly contribution ₹10,080; Your contribution ₹5,040; Employer contribution ₹5,040
Assuming the employer's whole 12% reaches the EPF account.
Calculating PF on gross salary instead of basic plus DA.
Adding employer PF to take-home pay, when it is part of CTC but not paid to you.
Forgetting that EPS money builds a pension entitlement, not a withdrawable balance in the same way.
Reading and checking a payslip.
Estimating yearly EPF contributions for retirement planning.
Understanding the EPF and EPS figures on the passbook.
Comparing salary structures with different basic pay.
Why is the pension contribution capped?
The EPS contribution is worked out on a fixed limit of ₹15,000 in wages, so it stops at about ₹1,250 a month, no matter how high your salary is. The rest of the employer's 12% goes into EPF instead.
Is EPF interest taxable?
Interest on your own contributions above ₹2.5 lakh in a financial year is taxable. Below that amount, it stays tax-free. The rules are different if there is no employer contribution.
Can I contribute more than 12%?
Yes, through the Voluntary Provident Fund. The extra amount earns the same interest rate, but your employer does not have to match it.