PERA guide
Can I Withdraw My PERA Early?
Yes, you can. If you are under 55 or have contributed for less than five years, the penalty is 20% of the income earned on the amount you take out, plus the 5% tax credits you received on it.
Yes, you can. If you are under 55 or have contributed for less than five years, the penalty is 20% of the income earned on the amount you take out, plus the 5% tax credits you received on it.
"What if I need the money?" is the question we hear most from people thinking about a PERA. The honest answer is that you can take it out, and the cost is usually smaller than people expect. Here is how it works.
Under Section 12 of the PERA Act (Republic Act No. 9505), you can withdraw without penalty once both of these are true:
At that point everything comes out tax free, as a lump sum or as a pension. You can also choose to leave it invested. A withdrawal before both conditions are met is an early withdrawal.
The penalty has two parts, under Revenue Regulations No. 17-2011 as clarified by the BIR in Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 91-2026:
Your contributions themselves are not penalized. Income on money you leave in your PERA is not counted. Losses in your other PERA funds cannot be used to reduce the income on what you withdraw. Your PERA administrator computes the penalty and deducts it before paying you.
Before RMC No. 91-2026, taking money out of one PERA fund early closed all your other PERA funds too, under RMC No. 4-2023. Under the new circular, issued August 11, 2026, only the part you withdraw is affected. The rest of your PERA stays invested and keeps its tax benefits.
Take Bea, who is 38. Over three years she put ₱150,000 into one PERA fund and received ₱7,500 in tax credits. Her fund is now worth ₱168,000, so it has earned ₱18,000. She withdraws all of it.
Bea still walks away with more than she put in. Most of the penalty is simply the tax credit she had already received. Many people assume the penalty is 20% of the whole balance, which here would have been ₱33,600.
If Bea never got her tax credit certificate printed or released, that part is not deducted. The certificate is cancelled instead.
Only if you have to. A PERA works best as retirement money you leave alone, with an emergency fund kept somewhere else. But if life happens, it is good to know the door is open, and what it costs to use it.
Sources: Republic Act No. 9505, Sections 11 to 14; Revenue Regulations No. 17-2011, Section 10; BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 4-2023 and No. 91-2026 (August 11, 2026); BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 94-2026.
Yes. It counts as an early withdrawal, so a penalty applies: 20% of the income earned on the amount you withdraw, plus the 5% tax credits you received on it.
Under RR 17-2011 and BIR RMC No. 91-2026, it is 20% of the gross income earned on the PERA assets actually withdrawn, plus recovery of the 5% tax credit on those assets. Money left in your PERA is not counted.
No longer. Since RMC No. 91-2026 took effect in August 2026, only the part you withdraw is affected. Your other PERA funds stay invested.
At age 55 with at least five years of contributions. Also for hospitalization of more than 30 days, permanent total disability, a transfer to another PERA within 15 days, or death.
Try the calculator with your own numbers, including your yearly tax credit. When you are ready, join the waitlist and we will let you know as soon as ezPERA opens.