Retirement

Steps

1. Before leaving: ask for your career statement in each country where you worked, the S1 form from your health insurance fund if your pension comes from your country, and the EHIC for the first months.
2. Settle in: residence card from Identità (sheet MT-SEJOUR-TOUS-001). Without an activity, you need health insurance (the S1 counts as such) and sufficient resources.
3. Register your S1 with the Entitlement Unit to access public healthcare (sheet MT-SANTE-TOUS-001).
4. Have your pension paid to Malta. Each country generally pays into an account in your EU country of residence (sheet MT-BANQUE-TOUS-001 for the account).
5. When the time comes, claim your pension where you live or where you last worked. If you have never worked in Malta, the Maltese service passes your claim to the country where you last worked, which brings together your career in all countries.
6. Declare yourself to the Maltese tax authority if you become tax resident (sheet MT-NIF-TOUS-001 for registration, sheet MT-IMPOTS-TOUS-001 for the rules) and check with a tax adviser where each pension is taxable under the tax treaty.
7. If you have large foreign income, compare with the Malta Retirement Programme (tax status for pensioners, minimum tax of €7,500 a year): sheet MT-IMPOTS-TOUS-002.

Documents

• Identity document or passport, Maltese residence card.
• Original S1 form (if your pension comes from an EU, EEA or Swiss country) and its photocopy.
• Career statements from each country and proof of your pension (amounts paid).
• Bank details of an account in Malta or in the EU.

Costs and timelines

• Pension from several countries: each country calculates a share pro rata to your years with it, taking into account your whole European career; you receive from each country the more favourable amount between this calculation and its national pension. Some countries pay nothing for less than one year of insurance, but those months are then taken into account by the other countries.
• Maltese tax on pensions (2026 income onwards): the Pensions (Tax Exemption) Rules (S.L. 123.204, amended by L.N. 53 of 2026) exempt 100% of pension income, up to €37,104 a year, if you are at least 61 in the year you receive it. The exemption covers any pension taxable in Malta under article 4(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act (social security, government service, foreign, occupational or private pension), with no domicile condition: for a non-domiciled resident, a foreign pension is only taxable in Malta if it is paid into Malta, and it is then that pension that benefits from the exemption (exception: permanent residence, see sheet MT-IMPOTS-TOUS-001). Other income remains taxed at the scale: first band at 0% up to €12,000 for a single person and €15,000 at the married scale; a pensioner at the married scale who benefits from the exemption also has a tax reduction of 15% of what exceeds €15,000, capped at €540, which amounts to paying nothing up to €18,600 of other income. The tax treaty with your country may reserve the taxation of certain pensions (often public pensions) to that country.
• If you also worked in Malta, legal age for the Maltese pension:

• Early retirement at 61 (Social Security Act, art. 64A): possible if you no longer have an activity and if, since age 18, you have at least 1,820 weekly contributions paid or credited (35 years: born 1952 to 1961), 2,080 (40 years: born 1962 to 1968) or 2,132 (41 years: born from 1969). For those born from 1969, a minimum of contributions actually paid is added: 1,612 for those born in 1969, then 52 more per year of birth, up to 1,820 for those born from 1973. A threshold of 42 years for those born from 1976 exists for the full-rate pension (art. 53); art. 64A does not repeat it: to be confirmed with the Department of Social Security.
• Maltese pension (2026): at least 10 years of contributions are needed; a full pension requires on average 50 weekly contributions per year. Maximum income taken into account in 2026: €29,083.36 (born from 1962) and €25,500 (born before 1962). Increase of €10 per week for all pensions in 2026. If you keep working beyond the legal age without drawing your pension, it increases by 6.5% to 29% depending on the duration.

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting the S1. Without it, no free access to public healthcare if you do not pay contributions in Malta.
• Believing that the Maltese exemption is enough. Your country of origin may keep the right to tax certain pensions (often public pensions) under the tax treaty: have it checked pension by pension.
• Choosing the pensioners' programme without calculating. It imposes an annual minimum tax and housing conditions; for an average pension, the normal regime may cost less (sheet MT-IMPOTS-TOUS-002).
• Not reporting your departure. Tell each pension fund of your change of address and country to avoid a suspension of payments.
• Counting on the Maltese non-contributory pension (Age Pension). It is means-tested and starts at 60; the Social Security Act (art. 66) reserves it for Maltese citizens who live in Malta. Do not count on it as a foreigner without having confirmed your situation with the Department of Social Security.

What changes by country of origin

• EU and EEA citizens: totalisation of careers (Regulation (EC) 883/2004), S1 for health, pension paid in Malta.
• Swiss nationals: Switzerland applies the same coordination rules with the EU; the Swiss EHIC and S1 work in Malta (sheet MT-SANTE-TOUS-001). Tax (Malta–Switzerland treaty, S.L. 123.136): a private or occupational pension (art. 18) is only taxable in Malta if you live there; a public pension paid by the Confederation, a canton or a municipality for services rendered to the State (art. 19(2)) remains taxable only in Switzerland, unless you are resident in and a national of Malta. The treaty also covers capital payments. For AHV/AVS pensions, have the applicable article confirmed by a tax adviser.
• British nationals (Scots included): for health, British S1 or certificate under the Malta–United Kingdom reciprocal agreement (sheet MT-SANTE-TOUS-001). The British State Pension (State Pension) is uprated every year for a resident of Malta, as throughout the EEA (gov.uk). Totalisation of British and European periods after Brexit is to be confirmed with the International Pension Centre. The Residence Programme is closed to them; for the pensioners' programme, see sheet MT-IMPOTS-TOUS-002.