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🇪🇸  Retiring in Spain 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:

  • Non-lucrative residence visa: income from 2,400 EUR a month. Official page

With an EU, EEA or Swiss passport (for example a second Irish passport) you need no visa: you register as a resident instead.

Check your figures in the visa checker

Sources: Spanish consulate: non-lucrative residence visa (2026 figures) (checked 2026-10-22) · Ministry of Inclusion: renewing non-lucrative residence (checked 2026-10-22) · Spanish government: abolition of the investor visa (checked 2026-10-22) · European Commission: Schengen visa policy (90 days in any 180) (checked 2026-10-22)

How your pensions are taxed

Australia has a tax treaty with Spain: it decides which country taxes your Australian pensions and super income streams (usually your new country for private pensions, and often the paying country for government pensions). Ask the ATO so the right tax is withheld.

  • State and government pensions: the treaty's pensions and government-service articles decide.
  • Private pensions: usually taxed in your country of residence.

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

Spain's own rules: Residents are taxed on worldwide income: pensions at state plus regional progressive rates, savings income (interest, dividends, gains) on a separate scale. Spain also has a wealth tax and an inheritance and gift tax, both largely set by each region, and foreign assets over €50,000 must be declared each year (Modelo 720).

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.