The Malta Retirement Programme

The main Malta visa guide covers the Nomad Residence Permit, built around remote work income. Malta separately runs the Malta Retirement Programme, a dedicated scheme specifically for EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals who receive a foreign pension as their main income source — a meaningfully narrower nationality scope than the Nomad Residence Permit, which is generally open more broadly.

The core benefit is a specific reduced flat tax rate on foreign pension income remitted to Malta, rather than Malta's standard income tax rates — this is the program's defining feature and the reason it's worth knowing about separately from the general nomad route. Confirmed under the Malta Retirement Programme Rules (2012): a flat 15% rate on qualifying foreign pension income, subject to a minimum annual tax of €7,500, plus €500 per dependent.

Confirmed: your pension must constitute at least 75% of your total chargeable income, and you must hold a qualifying property — purchased at a minimum of €275,000 (or €220,000 in Gozo or southern Malta), or leased at a minimum of €9,600/year (€8,750 in Gozo or southern Malta) — a meaningfully more structured set of conditions than the Nomad Residence Permit's more straightforward income test.

Because this program is restricted to EU/EEA/Swiss nationals, it doesn't apply to US, UK (post-Brexit), or most other non-European retirees — worth confirming your own nationality qualifies before assuming this route is available to you specifically.