Key Points
Bhardwaj says, "If an individual has stopped working before the retirement, the EPF account will remain operative for three years from the month in which EPF account contributions have stopped..
Saraswathi Kasturirangan, Partner Deloitte says that the provisions of the EPF Scheme indicate that the account will be inoperative where the member has retired from service after attaining 55 years of age or migrated abroad permanently and no application for withdrawal has been received preferred within 36 months from the date it becomes payable..
The amounts lying in inoperative accounts under certain provident fund schemes, including under the EPF Act, which have remained unclaimed for a period of 7 years will be transferred to the Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund..
Will the money lying in the EPF account earn interest?Till the age of 55 years, as the money can be kept in the EPF account for a maximum of three years after the contribution stops, will it earn any interest?..
In the nutshell, any interest earned in the EPF account post cessation of employment is taxable irrespective of the fact that the member has already rendered five years of continuous service with contributions to PF."..
