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If you receive the Australian Age Pension or draw money from superannuation while living in Thailand, the question is not whether Australia still has a say — it is whether Thailand now does too. Under Article 18 of the 1989 Australia–Thailand tax agreement, a pension or annuity is taxable only in the recipient's country of residence for treaty purposes, subject to a separate rule for government-service pensions in Article 19 (rd.go.th). If you spend 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year, you are a Thai tax resident, and assessable foreign pension or super income that arose on or after 1 January 2024, in a year when you were a Thai tax resident, can be taxed here once you bring it in, regardless of your age or how Australia treats it. Being over 60 and tax-free in Australia does not carry over: Thailand does not follow that exemption. A lump sum raises a separate, unsettled question — the agreement never says whether a lump sum counts as a pension at all.
In short
- Article 18 of the 1989 agreement gives the right to tax a pension or annuity to the recipient's country of residence for treaty purposes, with no requirement that it relate to past employment, subject to the separate rule for government-service pensions in Article 19.
- Thailand only taxes foreign income, including pension and super money, when a tax resident brings it into the country, and only if it arose from 1 January 2024 onward (Revenue Department Instruction Por. 161/2566).
- Being 60 or over does not make a super withdrawal tax-free in Thailand, even though a benefit from a fund's taxed element paid to someone 60 or over is tax-free in Australia (ATO).
- Under Article 24(5), Thailand credits only the Australian tax payable under the agreement on that same income, up to the Thai tax on it — a payment with no Australian tax payable under the agreement gives you no credit to claim here.
- Whether a lump sum is a "pension" under the agreement is not settled — ask before moving a large amount.
Age Pension vs superannuation for tax
The Age Pension and superannuation are different kinds of payment, and whether Article 18 applies to each in the same way depends on how the particular payment is classified under the agreement.
The Age Pension is a government welfare payment. Services Australia can pay it indefinitely to a recipient living outside Australia, but after 26 weeks abroad the rate depends on your Australian working-life residence: the full rate needs 35 years (420 months), and the rate falls proportionally below that, down to nil if you have none. Australia and Thailand have no social security agreement, so this residence test applies on its own, with no treaty exception.
Superannuation is a private retirement savings scheme. A benefit paid from a fund's taxed element once you are 60 or older is not taxed in Australia, according to the ATO; a benefit from an untaxed element is treated differently and needs its own check. That exemption is a purely Australian rule — it comes from Australian tax law, not from the treaty, and Thailand has no obligation to follow it.
What the Australia–Thailand treaty says about pensions
The agreement was signed on 31 August 1989, notes were exchanged on 26 July 1990, and it has applied in Thailand from 1 January 1990 (rd.go.th). Article 18 says pensions and annuities paid to a resident of one country are taxable only in that country for treaty purposes. There is no condition that the pension must relate to past employment, and the agreement has no separate social-security article.
A pension for Australian government service sits under a different rule: Article 19(2) keeps the right to tax with Australia, unless the recipient is both a Thai resident and a Thai national. For a recipient who is not a Thai national, that exception does not apply, so a government-service pension stays taxable in Australia.
The only published application of Article 18 we found is the ATO's own ruling on a veterans' pension paid to a Thai resident (ATO ID 2003/154), which the Office treated as taxable only in Thailand under this article. That ruling is specific to a veterans' pension; no official ruling has been published on the Age Pension itself. We read it as a strong signal, not as a settled answer for every pension type, and that is the caution our lawyers raise before anyone relies on it for Age Pension planning.
| Payment type | What the treaty says | What Thailand does on remittance | What Australia does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age Pension | Appears to fall under Article 18 — taxable only in the recipient's country of residence for treaty purposes (no Age Pension-specific ruling published) | Can be taxed if brought in by someone who is a Thai tax resident both when the income arose and when it is remitted, income arising from 2024 onward | Pays the pension; reduces the rate by working-life residence after 26 weeks abroad |
| Superannuation pension (regular payments) | Taxable only in the country of residence under Article 18, for treaty purposes | Can be taxed on remittance from 2024-onward income, by a Thai tax resident in both years | Not taxed from age 60 for a benefit from the taxed element (ATO) |
| Superannuation lump sum | Not addressed — unclear whether it counts as a "pension" under Article 18 | Classification not settled; treat as an open question before a large transfer | Not taxed from age 60 for a benefit from the taxed element (ATO) |
| Government-service pension | Taxable only in Australia under Article 19(2), unless the recipient is both a Thai resident and a Thai national | Not usually taxed here, subject to that exception | Taxes as a government pension |
Lump-sum super withdrawals
This is the part of the picture with the least certainty. The agreement does not say whether a lump sum from superannuation is a "pension" for Article 18 purposes, an annuity, or something else entirely. Nothing in the published guidance settles it, and we have not seen a Revenue Department ruling that classifies a super lump sum one way or the other.
That uncertainty matters because Thailand's remittance rule reaches foreign assessable income that arose on or after 1 January 2024 in a year when you were a Thai tax resident, once you bring it into Thailand, subject to treaty relief and applicable exemptions. Whether a lump sum "arises" on the date your fund pays it, or on some earlier date tied to when the contributions were made, is not something we can state as settled either.
Our lawyers look at how the payment is described by the fund and how much you plan to bring into Thailand before saying anything about tax exposure. If you are weighing a large withdrawal, that review is worth doing before the money moves, not after.
Resident in both countries: the tie-breaker
Thai tax residence is simple on its own: 180 days or more in Thailand in a calendar year makes you a resident for that year, as explained in our guide to the 180-day residency rule. Australian residence works on different rules entirely, and it is entirely possible to be a tax resident of both countries in the same year.
When that happens, Article 4 of the agreement decides which country's claim prevails, in this order: where you have a permanent home available to you, then where you more habitually live, then where your personal and economic ties are closer. The agreement settles the conflict between the two countries; it does not tell you when you stop being an Australian resident under Australian domestic rules, which is a separate question for the ATO.
We have written up an illustrative, typical situation — someone taxed as a resident of two countries in different years — in a case on splitting income between two tax residencies. That matter involved a different country's treaty; for an Australian recipient it is Article 4 of the Australia–Thailand agreement that decides a dual-residency conflict, in the order set out above.
Transfers and the 180 days
Even once residency and treaty classification are clear, the timing of a transfer still matters. Under Revenue Department Instruction Por. 161/2566, in force from 1 January 2024, a Thai tax resident is assessed on foreign income brought into Thailand if that income arose on or after 1 January 2024 in a year when you were a Thai tax resident — whatever year it is actually remitted, subject to treaty relief and applicable exemptions. A draft proposal to exempt money remitted in the same year it was earned, or the year after, has not become law.
As a purely illustrative example — not a real case — imagine someone who built up Australian savings before 2024 and also receives an Age Pension paid monthly from 2026 onward, while a Thai tax resident both in 2026 and in the year each payment is remitted. Money traced to the pre-2024 savings sits outside the remittance rule; the 2026 pension payments, once remitted as a Thai tax resident, can fall inside it — though whether the Age Pension itself is taxable in Thailand under Article 18 has not been confirmed by an official ruling, as noted above. Keeping the two pools of money separate, with bank records that show which is which, helps you trace the origin and date of funds if the distinction is questioned.
We help clients plan remittances year by year rather than moving money and sorting out the tax consequences afterward. Which return form applies and how to report a remitted foreign pension is best confirmed with the Revenue Department or with us; our guide to filing a Thai tax return covers the general filing process, and the mechanics of what counts as a remittance are in our guide to how Thailand taxes foreign income. We have also set out a related situation involving savings crossing the 180-day line in a case on what was taxed after a remittance.
What changes and what is not confirmed yet
A few points in this area are still open, and we would rather say so than guess:
- No official Thai or Australian ruling classifies the Age Pension itself under Article 18 — only the veterans' pension ruling (ATO ID 2003/154) points that way.
- Whether a super lump sum is a pension, an annuity, or neither under the agreement has not been published anywhere we could find.
- When a lump sum "arises" for the 2024 remittance rule — on payment, or earlier — is not settled.
- Thailand's remittance-exemption draft (same-year or next-year transfers) is still a proposal, not law.
What to do next
If you are drawing an Age Pension or planning a super withdrawal while living in Thailand, the practical step is to lay out your residency status, the source and date of the income, and the amount you intend to bring in — before you move it. Our team will review your situation and reply within 24 hours; the fee for a session is agreed with you in advance, before any work starts. Bring your Australian pension or fund statements, a note of your transfer history, and your travel dates for the relevant year; that is usually enough for a first read of where you stand.
For broader planning across Thai tax residency, filing and remittances, see our page on tax advice for foreigners.
