## EPF: Employees' Provident Fund
**EPF** stands for **Employees' Provident Fund**. It's a mandatory retirement savings scheme in India for salaried employees. The scheme is regulated by the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
### How does EPF work?
* **Contributions:** Both the employee and employer contribute a fixed percentage of the employee's basic salary and dearness allowance to the EPF account.
* **Investment:** The collected funds are invested in government securities, which generally offer a stable and decent rate of return.
* **Benefits:** The accumulated amount, along with the interest earned, is paid to the employee upon retirement or can be partially withdrawn under certain conditions.
### Components of EPF contributions
* **Employee's Contribution:** Currently, 12% of the basic salary and dearness allowance.
* **Employer's Contribution:**
* 12% of the basic salary and dearness allowance, out of which:
* 3.67% goes to the EPF account.
* 8.33% goes to the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS).
### Benefits of EPF
* **Retirement savings:** It provides a substantial corpus for retirement.
* **Tax benefits:** Contributions to EPF are eligible for tax deductions.
* **Loan facility:** Members can avail of loans against their EPF balance under certain conditions.
* **Pension benefits:** The EPS component provides a pension after retirement.
### Important points to remember
* EPF is mandatory for establishments with 20 or more employees.
* UAN (Universal Account Number) is a unique identification number for EPF members.
* EPFO provides online services for managing your EPF account.
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