Personal Finance

Finance Ministry to Approve 8.5% Returns on PF

The Ministry of Finance has agreed to set an 8.5% interest rate for Provident Fund (PF) deposits for FY 2020-2021. The notification has yet to be released for approval. The rate of interest was agreed upon by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). 

Sunil Barthwal, Labour secretary, confirmed the development with ET. The Ministry of Labour and Employment has to notify the interest rate decided for the year before the EPFO can credit it to the subscribers. The interest rate for the previous financial year was the same. The current interest rate has been the lowest since 2015-16. 

As per the data released recently, the new EPFO subscribers in August were 9.18 lakh, lower than the new subscribers in July, at 9.53 lakh. This data is indicative of slower formal job creation in August 2021.

PF is a retirement benefits scheme for salaried employees where the employer and employee contributions towards the employee’s retirement fund. It also has benefits for tax saving, insurance, pension and withdrawals. 

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at jyotsna.singh@cleartax.in

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