Retiring to Malta: residence routes, your Age Pension and the 2027 deadline

Malta has sunshine, English everywhere, a big Maltese-Australian community and a social security deal with Australia. It also has a rule change on 1 January 2027 that anyone planning to retire there should know about now.

The short version

• Australians without an EU passport usually retire to Malta through a special tax programme, mainly the Malta Retirement Programme (MRP) or the Global Residence Programme (GRP), then hold a residence permit as a self-sufficient person [1][2][10].
• From 1 January 2027, Malta's new Individual Tax Programme Rules replace these schemes. The minimum annual tax for retired pensioners rises from €7,500 to €15,000 [3][4].
• Applications made on or before 31 December 2026 keep the current terms until 31 December 2031 [3][4].
• Under the Australia–Malta social security agreement, Age Pension can be paid in Malta, and Australian residence plus Maltese coverage can be added together to reach the 10-year minimum [6][7].
• If you're a Maltese citizen by descent, you don't need any of this. You can simply live in Malta, though you can't use the MRP [1].

Your residence options

Malta is in the EU and Schengen. Australians can visit visa-free for 90 days in any 180 [9], but retiring means living there, and that needs a legal basis.

Both programmes are tax statuses first. Once granted, you apply for the residence permit itself through Identità's Expatriates portal under the economic self-sufficient category, which lists MRP and GRP beneficiaries and costs €100 for new and renewal applications [10].

The Malta Retirement Programme

This is the closest thing Malta has to a retirement visa. Forvis Mazars, one of Malta's large tax firms, summarises the main conditions [1]:

• You're not Maltese, and not domiciled in Malta or planning to be within five years.
• Your pension is received in Malta and makes up at least 75% of your chargeable income.
• You're not employed, though some non-executive and charitable roles are allowed.
• You own or rent a qualifying home as your principal residence worldwide.
• You hold a valid passport and medical insurance for yourself and your dependants.
• Every year you lodge a return, pay provisional tax and declare you haven't lived in another country for more than 183 days.

Foreign income remitted to Malta is taxed at a flat 15%, other income at 35%, with the €7,500 minimum [1].

The Global Residence Programme

The GRP is aimed at third-country nationals with wider foreign income, not only pensions. It uses the same 15% flat rate on remitted foreign income and the same property thresholds, but the minimum tax is double, at €15,000 a year [2]. For a modest pension, the MRP usually costs less.

The 1 January 2027 change

This is the part you can't ignore if you're planning to go soon. Malta published Legal Notice 195 of 2026 on 14 July 2026. It brings in the Individual Tax Programme Rules, which come into force on 1 January 2027 [3].

Under the new rules there are four categories: Global Resident Status, EU, EEA and Swiss Resident Status, Retired Pensioner Status and UN Pensioner Status [3]. The 15% flat rate on remitted foreign income stays [3]. But plenty else changes.

The good news is the transitional rule. If your status was granted, or your application is received, on or before 31 December 2026, you keep the current terms until 31 December 2031 [3][4].

The summaries we read are less detailed on how every property threshold applies to retired pensioners, so get your category's rules confirmed by a Maltese tax adviser.

Your Age Pension in Malta

Australia and Malta have a social security agreement, and it's one of the more useful ones for retirees.

What the agreement does

• Adds periods together. Your Australian residence and your Maltese insurance coverage can be combined to meet the 10-year minimum for Age Pension [6].
• Lets you claim from Malta. Lodge forms AUS140 and MOD-IA at any office of Malta's social security department. Claims can generally go in up to 13 weeks early [6].
• Keeps paying you. Australia's Social Security Guide says Age Pension paid under the Malta agreement is payable outside both Australia and Malta without restriction [7].
• Covers Maltese pensions too. Malta's retirement, invalidity and widows' pensions fall under the agreement, with eligibility set by Malta [6].

If you claim from outside Australia, you generally need at least 12 months of Australian working life residence, with 6 of those months in one continuous stretch [6].

The 35-year rule

Moving overseas changes your rate. After 26 weeks outside Australia, Services Australia says your rate depends on how many years you lived in Australia between age 16 and Age Pension age. With 35 years or more there's usually no change. With fewer, you usually get a proportion: 10 years means 10/35ths of your usual rate [8]. Your Pensioner Concession Card cancels once you've been temporarily overseas for 6 weeks [8].

Our Centrelink and the Age Pension abroad guide covers telling Services Australia and the supplements that stop.

Your super

Once you've met a condition of release, the question is how Malta taxes what you bring in and how it counts towards the MRP's 75% pension test. Lump sums and account-based pensions can be treated differently, so settle this with an adviser who knows both systems and the Australia–Malta tax treaty. Our super while living overseas guide covers the Australian side.

Health cover in retirement

Medicare's reciprocal agreement with Malta is for visitors, not retirees. Smartraveller says it covers you for up to six months after arrival, at public facilities only, and not for ongoing treatment of existing conditions [9]. After that, you need your own arrangements.

The MRP and GRP both require medical insurance for you and your dependants [1][2]. Check what the policy says about pre-existing conditions before you sell up.

Public care centres on Mater Dei Hospital in Msida, with Gozo General Hospital on Gozo. Smartraveller notes both have decompression chambers, and that serious cases may need evacuation to the UK or elsewhere in Europe [9]. Check your policy covers that.

Maltese citizens by descent who live in Malta have a different set of entitlements. Get your status confirmed once you're registered.

Gozo, the cheaper option

Gozo is Malta's smaller, greener sister island, linked by the Gozo Channel ferry from Ċirkewwa. It's quieter and, under the current programmes, cheaper to qualify on.

Under today's MRP rules you need €220,000 to buy or €8,750 a year to rent on Gozo, against €275,000 or €9,600 on Malta [1]. The GRP fee is also lower for the south and Gozo [5]. From 2027 that discount disappears for new applicants, because the new thresholds apply across both islands [4][5].

A few things to weigh:

• Healthcare. Gozo General Hospital handles a lot, but some specialist care means crossing to Mater Dei.
• The ferry. Lovely on a calm morning, less so in a winter gregale.

Your retirement move, in order

1. Check your family tree. A Maltese-born parent or grandparent may make you a citizen. See our citizenship by descent guide.
2. Decide before 31 December 2026. If a programme suits you, an application received by then keeps today's terms until the end of 2031 [3][4].
3. Line up the property. You'll need a qualifying home bought or rented as your principal residence [1].
4. Arrange medical insurance. It's a condition of both programmes [1][2].
5. Apply for the residence permit. Once your tax status is granted, apply through Identità [10].
6. Sort Australia. Tell Services Australia, the ATO and your super fund. Our leaving Australia checklist has the list.

Plenty of retirees are already there. Join Cooee Malta, our Facebook group for Australians in Malta, to ask about life on Gozo or which suburbs suit a quieter pace.

Sources

1. The Malta Retirement Programme – Forvis Mazars Malta
2. Global Residence Programme – Forvis Mazars Malta
3. Individual Tax Programme Rules, 2026 – Deloitte Malta (July 2026)
4. Malta launches Individual Tax Programme replacing GRP, TRP, MRP and UN Pensioner rules – CC Malta (July 2026)
5. Malta Global Residence Programme vs Global Resident Status: 2027 tax rules changes – GVZH Advocates via Legal 500 (August 2026)
6. Social Security Agreement between Australia and Malta (factsheet, 2025) – Services Australia
7. Portability and the Agreement with Malta – Social Security Guide, Department of Social Services
8. When you leave Australia if you get Age Pension – Services Australia
9. Malta travel advice – Smartraveller (DFAT)
10. Economic self-sufficient residence permit – Identità

Keep reading

• Maltese citizenship by descent and life in Malta
• Healthcare in Malta: Mater Dei, health centres and your rights
• Your Malta residence card: Identità, e-ID and the queues
• Centrelink and the Age Pension abroad