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🇨🇷  Retiring in Costa Rica from Australia

What Australians need to know: the visa, how your pensions are taxed, what to do before you leave and every year after.

By the retireacross editorial team · Last reviewed

Visa for Australians

Check the visa-free stay for your passport with the consulate before a trial stay. To live there you need a residence route:

  • Pensionado (retiree) residence: income from 1,000 USD a month. Official page
  • Rentista (passive income) residence: income from 2,500 USD a month or savings from 60,000 USD. Official page

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: CRIE: Costa Rica residency requirements (2026) (checked 2026-10-22) · AG Legal: residency in Costa Rica in 2026 (checked 2026-10-22) · Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (checked 2026-10-22)

How your pensions are taxed

No tax treaty between Australia and Costa Rica: Australia keeps taxing Australian-sourced income of foreign residents (with no tax-free threshold); Costa Rica does not tax most foreign pensions (see its tax rules), so in practice only Australia taxes them.

  • State pensions: taxable in the paying country.
  • Private pensions: possibly taxed in both countries, without treaty relief.

Sources: Treasury: Australia's income tax treaties (checked 2026-10-26)

Australia: As a foreign resident for Australian tax you still declare Australian income, including Australian pensions and rent, with no tax-free threshold and no Medicare levy. Official page

Costa Rica's own rules: Costa Rica taxes only Costa Rican-source income, so foreign pensions and investment income are generally not taxed. A bill filed in September 2026 would tax residents' foreign passive income at 15%: it is not law. Homes above a construction value threshold pay a yearly solidarity (luxury home) tax; there is no inheritance tax.

Before you leave Australia

  1. Check when you can reach your super (Australia): Moving abroad does not unlock super: you need your preservation age (60 if born from 1 July 1964) and to retire, or to turn 65. Plan your income until then. Official page
  2. Check your Age Pension abroad: After 26 weeks outside Australia, your Age Pension depends on your years of residence between 16 and pension age: 35 years for the full rate, otherwise a proportion (10 years = 10/35ths). Supplements and the concession card stop when you leave to live abroad. Official page (from age band 65-74)
  3. Becoming a foreign resident for Australian tax: When you stop being an Australian resident, your shares and other assets that are not Australian property are treated as sold at market value (CGT event I1), unless you choose to defer it until you actually sell; Australian rent stays taxable in Australia at non-resident rates with no tax-free threshold, and foreign residents lose most of the main-residence exemption. Tell the ATO and your banks you are a foreign resident, and check your Medicare enrolment with Services Australia. Official page
  4. Tell Centrelink before you leave: Link your Centrelink account to myGov, tell Services Australia about your travel, and report your income on the business day before you leave. Away more than 12 months, you are paid every 4 weeks, into an Australian or an overseas account. Official page (from age band 65-74)
  5. Age Pension later, from abroad (Australia): The Age Pension starts at 67. Paid abroad, its rate after 26 weeks depends on your years of Australian residence between 16 and pension age (35 years for the full rate), so keep a record of them. Official page (before State Pension or Social Security age)

More for Australians

Rules and figures change and we can make mistakes: confirm with the official source or a licensed advisor before acting.