How do I go about claiming my provident fund from work?
The short answer
Most provident funds say you must remain a member of the fund as long as you are employed by the employer participating in the fund.
The whole question
I was contributing to a provident fund for the past four years. Now I want to claim it but I don’t know where to go and my employer refuses to give me an exit letter because I’m still working. Yet I no longer contribute to the provident fund. What is the proper channel for claiming my funds?
The long answer
Your membership of the provident fund is governed by the rules of your particular fund, so you should ask your employer for a copy of the provident fund rules. But most provident funds say you must remain a member of the fund as long as you are employed by the employer participating in the fund. Also the employer must ensure that you remain a member of the fund throughout your employment. So it’s not clear on what basis you have stopped contributing to the provident fund.
The Income Tax Act says that you can only withdraw from your provident fund if you resign, or are dismissed or retrenched. It says that your membership of the provident fund only stops when you actually stop being employed, or when the fund itself is terminated in terms of the Pension Funds Act.
When you do claim your provident fund, you have to get a withdrawal notification from your employer. You complete this and return it with your proof of banking details and ID to your employer who will counter-sign it and forward it to the provident fund administrator for processing. If your tax affairs are in order, the fund should pay out within 14 to 21 days.
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