You may retire early after turning 55 years old. Your pension would be calculated through a pension formula, and then reduced by the penalty factor of 3.9% per year for each year before age 63 years.

You may retire at any age because of ill health, provided that the Board of Trustees approves a recommendation by EPPF’s Medical Panel.
Your benefit is calculated based on your pensionable salary and pensionable service accrued up to the actual retirement date, plus 75% of the service that you would have been completed from that date to the pensionable age.

• Log into your profile to download the Beneficiary Nomination Form. Please make sure that you complete the Beneficiary Nomination Form in detail.
• Submit the signed form to us by email, post or hand deliver it to any of our offices. Click here for all locations and contact details.
• We recommend that you send posted forms via registered post so we can track your form.
• Contact our Call Centre to confirm receipt and capturing of your nomination form.

Once every three years, pensioners must confirm that they are alive and can still receive their pension benefit. This is done by completing an Evidence of Survival (EOS) Form. How do I submit my EOS?
Your EOS can be submitted using one of the following options: 

1. EOS through USSD
USSD allows you to submit your EOS through your mobile phone, so you don’t have to fill in any forms, visit a police station or worry about how long it will take to reach us.

• Dial *134*20072# from your mobile phone and follow the prompts
• You must provide a response on the screen within 30 seconds, or your session will
  automatically end for security purposes. If your session ends automatically, you will
  need to start over.
• Once complete, you’ll receive a notification of your successful submission.

For more guidance, read the full EOS USSD Guide here: EOS USSD Guide

2. EOS through the Member Portal

You can also submit Evidence of Survival through the member portal on our website. Follow this guide: EOS e-form Guide

To upload scanned copies of your EOS form on the member portal, follow the guidelines by clicking here. Documents must be less than 5MB and in PDF format.

3. Physical Evidence of Survival (EOS) Form

The option of physical Evidence of Survival (EOS) is still available.

1. If you don’t have a mobile phone or access to the Member Portal on the EPPF website, please read, complete and print the EOS form.
2. Once completed and printed, the EOS form must be stamped and certified by a Commissioner of Oaths, who can be found at magistrates’ offices, attorneys’ offices, banks, post offices and police stations.
   Alternatively, Affirming Authority stamps can be used. You can get these from: 
   • Lawyers or notary public who are members of a recognised professional body 
   • Actuaries or accountants who are members of a recognised professional body 
   • Members of the judiciary 
   • Directors, managers or company secretaries of a bank or regulated financial services business.
3. When you get your EOS form certified, please take your identity document or passport with you. Make sure to sign both forms before you send them to us. To return the forms to the Fund, email a copy of the form to webupdate@eppf.co.za.

What happens if I don't submit my EOS form?

If you do not send your EOS by the payroll closing date, the payment of your pension will be suspended until EPPF receives your form. The implications of not submitting on time can be far-reaching. Apart from not receiving your pension, certain third-party deductions, like medical aid payments, may not be processed.

Are widows, widowers and guardians with minor children required to submit an EOS?

Yes. Widows, widowers and guardians with minor children in receipt of a pension, as well as disabled children in receipt of a lifelong pension, are required to submit an EOS. The following should be noted:

• Each widow or widower and child in the household who receives a pension must submit their EOS through one of the channels, and
• In the case of a minor child or a disabled child, the guardian must submit an EOS on behalf of the minor or disabled child.

How to have your pension reinstated if it is suspended at the end of the EOS closing date if you are based outside South Africa.

Request an Evidence of Survival form from the EPPF or log in to your profile to download a form. Submit the original, certified form either by hand or by post.

Once the form reaches our offices, the reinstatement and payment process takes about two weeks from receipt of the form.

South African-based pensioners no longer need to submit EOS forms every year, but will be verified through the Department of Home Affairs.

Pre-Retirement Counselling

All members who are entering retirement must meet with a Retirement Fund Consultant six months before their retirement date. The purpose of the counselling is to help you to make an informed decision when retiring. The Consultant will also help you to complete your retirement application form.

Retirement application

As a retiring member, you must complete the retirement application form with the help of your Human Resources department. This application form is used to process your pension accordingly. If you are divorced, you are encouraged to submit your divorce documents to us to prevent delays in processing, as the divorce documents are to be reviewed by our legal team.

Documents

All documents that are requested on the retirement application form must be sent to us before the member’s retirement and may be provided electronically. This will allow us to complete the quality assurance process in time.

Last Contribution

We will wait for the final confirmation and the last contribution. Contributions are received from the employer by the 7th of the month after your retirement. Thereafter, the applicable interest rates are loaded and then the claim processing starts.

Calculation

The member’s final retirement calculation is done in line with the Fund rules.

Tax

The retirement calculation is sent to SARS to confirm the tax deductible on the benefit.

Cash lump sum

You are paid the nett cash lumpsum value if you have opted for that.

Monthly Pension

The arrear monthly pension is loaded along with any deductions as indicated by the member. Thereafter, the pension will run monthly by means of the EPPF’s payroll system.

Letter

You will receive a welcome letter that shows your monthly pension value, along with a tax certificate.

Pensioner Card

You’ll also get a pensioner card, which allows you to claim discounts from certain stores and in certain regions.

Your spouse’s pension is payable for the duration of your lifetime, regardless of whether you remarry or not.

Depending on the investment performance of the Fund, the Board of Trustees may declare a bonus which is payable in December of that year. Pensioners are told in December of each year whether a bonus is payable.

Your tax deduction may fluctuate for the following reasons:

• If there is a bonus paid in December your tax deduction will be different from other months
• If there is a pension increase in January, there will be a difference in tax payable
• If your medical aid contributions increased in February, the taxable income decreases.
  Previously, pensioners aged 65 years and older used to get a full medical aid rebate. This is no longer the case. Since the new tax year begins in March, our payroll system annualises tax based on the latest tax earnings and the last year’s tax tables 

Our pension payroll runs in advance, on the 1st of each month. This means that tax tables for the new tax year are always implemented in the April payroll. However, the new tax tables are implemented retrospectively to the March payroll according to tax changes announced in the budget speech. This means that your tax in the April will include the March payroll deduction adjustments. Your tax should then stabilise from the May payroll onwards.

Section 18(2) of the Income Tax Act has been repealed. This means that pensioners who are 65 years and older are no longer granted the full medical aid rebate by the employer during the tax year. Instead, they are granted the medical tax credits by the employer according to the number of dependants they have on their medical aid. Section 6A of the Income Tax Act deals with medical aid tax credits.

Medical aid expenses (such as medication, doctor’s consultations etc.) and tax credits in respect of expenses are granted during the assessment year of tax returns. Should it happen that a pensioner has paid too much tax due to medical expenses not being deductible by the employer; SARS will refund the excess to the pensioner.

Medical aid contributions and medical expenses are granted in terms of section 6B of the Income Tax Act.

The Medical Scheme Fees Tax Credit for individuals is a credit which applies in respect of contributions paid by the pensioner who has a taxable income up to the last day of the tax year to a registered medical scheme. The amount of credit is based on the following values per month in the year of assessment in respect of which the contributions were paid in respect of the pensioner, the pensioner’s spouse and any other dependants.

The Evidence of Survival (EOS) form is used by the Fund to find out if people who receive a pension from us, who live outside South Africa, are still alive and are rightfully receiving a pension.

EOS forms are sent out annually to pensioners living outside South Africa and pensioners have a few months in which to complete them from the date on which the form is sent to them.

We always advise pensioners of the opening and closing dates for EOS form submissions. Should we not receive your form by the EOS submission closing date, your pension will be suspended until the form is received. Please contact us if you have not received an EOS form or Click here to log into your profile and download the form.

Yes, you must still submit your returns as confirmation of the information submitted by the employer on your behalf. In your instance, EPPF represents the employer as the provider of a monthly income.

An AA88 is a garnishee order against you, which SARS issues to the employer (EPPF) for money that you owe to SARS. This is usually due to non-submission of tax returns and non-payment of tax owed. An AA88 was previously referred to as an IT88.

When we receive this garnishee order, we are required by law to deduct the amount owed to SARS from your pension and pay it over to SARS on your behalf. This might affect your other deductions, as a SARS garnishee order takes precedence over other deductions.

Please contact your nearest SARS office to resolve your outstanding tax issues. You can contact SARS on 0800 00 72 77.

To change your banking details when you relocate to another country, you must submit the following to us:

• An original, certified copy of your identity document or passport
• An original, completed, International Banking Form. The form must be completed by the bank to which you want to transfer your benefit, or by your foreign exchange service provider
• Click here to log into your profile and download the International Banking Form
• Remember to also inform us of your change in address. Click here to contact us and update your address and other contact information.