North Macedonia Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04036000

In North Macedonia, national legislation requires the compulsory payment of social security contributions. The pension insurance covers most workers and the self-employed.

Contributions insure individuals against disability and death and provides for income in the form of a pension once the person reaches retirement age. Separate legislation covers unemployment and sickness.

The legislation is the responsibility of the Government of North Macedonia but administration and payment of insurance pensions is the responsibility of the central pension insurance agency.

Social assistance legislation provides benefits for those with low incomes, generally managed by the local municipalities.

The Agreement with North Macedonia started on 1 April 2011. There are no previous versions.

For Australia:

Department of Social Services (DSS)

For North Macedonia:

Ministry of Labour and Social Policy - Министерството за труд и социјална политика

For Australia:

Australian Government Agency, Services Australia

For North Macedonia:

Pension and Disability Insurance Fund of Macedonia -Фонд на пензиското и инвалидското осигурување на Македонија

For Australia:

International Services (CIS)

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for anything relating to Double coverage. See Double coverage/certificate of coverage.

For North Macedonia:

See Competent Institution

Note: also includes the Health Insurance Fund of Macedonia - Фонд за здравствено осигурување на Македонија

Under the Agreement with North Macedonia, information held about customers may be exchanged between the Liaison Agencies to determine entitlement to payments under the Agreement and under either country's domestic legislation (Article 20.1).

For more information on bulk data exchange, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

These forms are completed by International Services (CIS) and sent to North Macedonia.

Australia/North Macedonia Agreement on Social Security - Liaison (AUS187MB)

For assistance with creating and completing the liaison form, see: Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

These forms are completed by North Macedonia or the customer and are returned to International Services (CIS).

ОБРАЗЕЦ ЗА ВРСКА- LIAISON FORM (RM/AU205)

• Office use only: reference numbers
• Section 1 - Personal information: provides personal details for the claimant and insured person (SUR only)
• Section 2 - Information provided by Republic of Macedonia: provides information on Macedonian insurance periods and Macedonian pensions
• Section 3 - Information requested by Republic of Macedonia: details information requested by North Macedonia including Australian working life residence, Australian pension details and medical reports
• Signature: certification by the Macedonian competent institution

Australian disability pensions are not covered by the Agreement. However, the Agreement allows the exchange of existing medical information (Article 16.2). The Administrative Arrangements also provide for medical examinations on request including annual reimbursement upon presentation of costs.

Forms:

International Services (CIS) arrange for the Detailed Medical Report (E213) to be completed and sent to North Macedonia. See Foreign pension medical assessments.

Any enquiries about double coverage or certificates of coverage should be directed to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

The Agreement with North Macedonia includes double coverage provisions. Certificates of coverage are used to confirm exceptions.

See double coverage/certificates of coverage information in International Social Security Agreements.

Any queries about taxation of pensions or the requirement to lodge a tax return should be directed to:

• In the other country - the tax authority in the other country directly.
• In Australia: - the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

For general information on taxation, including issuing Australian Payment Summaries, see the Taxation information in International Social Security Agreements.

Tax treaty

Australia does not have a double tax agreement with North Macedonia.

Tax deductions

Macedonian pensions may be taxed at source (јавни приходи).

The gross rate of Macedonian pension (before deductions) is maintained.

Macedonian tax year

North Macedonia generally uses the calendar year (1 Jan - 31 Dec) as the tax year.

Any queries about:

• Health insurance coverage in the other country - the customer should be directed to contact the health insurance authority in the other country, and
• Medicare coverage - should be directed to Medicare, see Medicare Consumers Program Support - Medicare Consumers Section - Medicare Branch

For general information on health insurance and Medicare coverage, see Health Insurance/Medicare information in International Social Security Agreements.

Note: Australia does not have a reciprocal health agreement with North Macedonia.

The former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia dissolved into several independent republics (including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia and Slovenia) between 1991 and 1993.

The republics of Serbia and Montenegro formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until renamed in 2003 and finally splitting into separate republics in 2006.

Australia recognises the Republic of Kosovo which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but recognition internationally is still in dispute.

After resolution between Greece and North Macedonia in 2018, Australia officially recognises the name “North Macedonia” which should be used in official communication.

Entitlement to a pension is based on in which country the person's last employer was registered. Where necessary, claims sent to North Macedonia will be sent to the authorities in the relevant country.

For Australia, the Agreement with North Macedonia (Article 2.1) covers:

• Age Pension

Note: Additional child amounts, also known as Overseas Child Component and Additional Child payment, are included in the proportional rate calculation. See Rate calculation

Claims for Australian payments under agreements use the same methods and processes as domestic claims. See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements for detailed instructions and coding assistance.

Forms to claim an Australian payment in North Macedonia can be obtained by contacting the Macedonian authorities or International Services (CIS). Forms can also be downloaded from the Services Australia website. See the Resources page for a link.

Forms required:

For all payments:

• AUS140MB - Australian pension claim - Agreement with North Macedonia
• Mod(iA)MB - Income and assets - Macedonian.

Forms can be lodged at any Macedonian Social Security office.

Under the Administrative Arrangements, the Macedonian Liaison Agency will verify the customer's identity and send the claim to CIS with a completed Liaison Form including Macedonian insurance periods and Macedonian pension details. See the Exchange of information and liaison forms on the General information tab for the Macedonian liaison form.

If a person is not an Australian resident and in Australia on the date the claim is made, they may use the Agreement to meet the residence rules for claims if, on that date, they are:

• an Australian resident or a resident of North Macedonia (Article 10(1)), and
• physically present in Australia or North Macedonia (Article 10(2))

The normal rules for working out the date a claim is "made" and the start day apply to claims under the Agreement with Macedonia. However, the Agreement also allows:

• the date of lodgement of a claim for an Australian payment in North Macedonia to be used as the date of lodgement in Australia (Article 17.2), and
• the date of lodgement of a claim for Macedonian old age pension to be used as the date of lodgement of a claim for Australian Age Pension (Article 17.3) if the customer:
• declares periods of residence in Australia on the Macedonian claim, and
• the Australian claim is received in International Services (CIS) within 12 months of the date of lodgement of the Macedonian claim

See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements and Start day (CLK) for coding assistance.

The Agreement allows:

• totalisation of periods of qualifying Australian residence and Macedonian insurance periods to meet any minimum periods to qualify for an Australian pension, for example, 10 years for Age Pension (Article 11.1)
• the total of any non-continuous Macedonian insurance periods to be considered to be continuous to meet any continuous residence requirement to qualify for an Australian pension (Article 11.2)

Notes:

• Overlapping periods are only counted once (Article 11.3)
• Policy advice is that adjoining periods of Australian qualifying residence and Macedonian creditable periods, with a break of up to 3 months in between, can also be considered to be continuous

To be able to use the totalisation provisions, a person who is not an Australian resident at the date of lodgement must have at least 12 months Australian Working life residence (WLR) in Australia of which 6 months must be continuous (Article 11.4(4.1)).

Note: unlike WLR for rate, this period cannot be rounded.

No minimum WLR is required if the person is an Australian resident at the date of lodgement (Article 12.4(4.2)).

The Agreement with North Macedonia (Article 12.1) refers to the overall rate calculation contained in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (S12(1)) but specifically excludes additional child amounts (Article 12.1).

This means:

• customers paid under the Agreement who are outside Australia are paid a proportional rate according to their Australian Working Life Residence (WLR) and
• the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applies

The Agreement with North Macedonia does not include the proportionalisation of any North Macedonian pension in the income test (Randisi concession).

The Agreement also specifies (Article 12.2) the proportional rate for a customer who was not an Australian resident when the Agreement started (1 April 2011). In that case, the proportion is the customer's Australian Working Life Residence (WLR) to a maximum of 528 months)) divided by 528. This is referred to as the 528 denominator.

Note: where a customer is paid the 528 denominator rate and they become an Australian resident again, they will go back on the 528 denominator rate for any absence within 2 years of the date they became an Australian resident again, even if they transfer to autonomous. In that case, the Agreement Country: and Agreement year: fields must be coded again on the Australian Residence Details (ARD) screen on departure.

Although a person may be qualified for an Australian payment or portable outside Australia, if the customer has no WLR the rate of payment outside Australia will be nil.

Note: in some circumstances their partner's WLR may be used. See Working Life Residence (WLR).

When a person is paid a proportional rate under an agreement, Rent Assistance (RA) cannot be paid. Other add-ons such as Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement are payable under normal add-ons portability rules. See Portability of Add-ons

Examples of when a customer is paid a proportional rate includes (but not limited to):

• permanently overseas
• temporarily overseas longer than 26 weeks for age pension
• former resident transferring to the agreement for portability

Returns to Australia

The proportional rate continues to apply for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia (Article 12.4).

If there is no change to the country of residence, any movement is considered temporary and a review is set to automatically change the rate after a continuous period of 26 weeks. If a delegate determines that a person has changed their country of residence, coding the Country of Residence (CRES) screen will automatically apply the correct rate calculation.

For returns to Australia before 9 June 2018, manually code the Temporary Return to Aust Ind on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen.

Customers in Australia under the Agreement are paid a direct deduction rate (Article 12.5). That is, all Macedonian payments covered by the Agreement, including social welfare payments, are not assessed as income but will be deducted dollar-for-dollar from the maximum rate of the Australian payment before the application of the income or assets test.

Departures from Australia

The inside Australia rate continues to be paid for the first 26 weeks of a temporary departure from Australia (Article 12.6).

Payments exempt under the Agreement are generally exempt for autonomous customers (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991). See Assessment and exempt payments on the North Macedonian payments tab.

Under the Agreement, provided the customer remains qualified, Australian Age pension is payable indefinitely in any country provided the person remains a resident of Australia or North Macedonia (Article 15.1).

There is no portability to third countries for a customer paid under the Agreement.

If necessary, a customer in receipt of an autonomous payment covered by the Agreement may be able to transfer to the Agreement if they are in North Macedonia when their normal portability period expires. The portability under the Agreement then applies, see Portability.

Note: the customer must meet the transfer requirements.

Once a customer transfers to the Agreement they are then considered to be paid by virtue of the Agreement and all provisions of the agreement apply, including the rate of payment. See Rate Calculation.

See Transfers to international social security agreements.

A person who has sufficient Australian qualifying residence (or an exemption) can only transfer from the Agreement to autonomous if they are an Australian resident and in Australia.

On return to Australia, system processing will automatically transfer the person from the Agreement to autonomous if they are an Australian resident who has only used the Agreement to extend their portability while outside Australia.

Customers who transfer to autonomous may be affected by the former resident provisions if they leave Australia again within 2 years of becoming an Australian resident. See Former resident provisions.

For Australian payments made into bank accounts outside Australia. See Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD).

• старосна пензија - Old Age Pension (AGE)
• инвалидска пензија - Disability Pension (INV)
• семејна пензија - Survivor benefits (SUR)
• Вдовецот/вдовицата (Widow/er)
• Дете (Orphan)

Notes:

• Includes Guaranteed Minimum Pension (минимална пензија) for residents of North Macedonia
• Funeral Assistance (посмртна помош) may be paid to the person responsible for funeral costs in North Macedonia

The requirement to claim Macedonian pensions applies to Macedonian AGE, INV and SUR.

Note: the requirement to claim SUR only applies to widows/ers. Customers may voluntarily claim SUR for other family members using the SUR claim pack. See Claim forms and processes.

Contributions paid by employers on behalf of employees.

The Eligibility and coding tab contains detailed information on Macedonian payments that are subject to CFP legislation.

Claim packs are available for Macedonian: AGE/INV/SUR.

Claim packs for Macedonian payments can be issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS), see Assisting customers to claim a foreign pension.

Specific requirements for Macedonian claims:

The customer is to complete and provide the following:

All claims:

• birth certificate
• Macedonian Identity Card (лична карта), where available
• original Macedonian work book (работна книшка) or other evidence of employment in Macedonia

AGE only:

• БАРАЊЕ ЗА СТАРОСНА ПЕНЗИЈА - APPLICATION FOR OLD AGE PENSION (RM/AU202)

INV only:

• БАРАЊЕ ЗА ИНВАЛИДСКА ПЕНЗИЈА- APPLICATION FOR DISABILITY PENSION (RM/AU203)

SUR only:

• БАРАЊЕ ЗА СЕМЕЈНА ПЕНЗИЈА - APPLICATION FOR SURVIVOR'S PENSION (RM/AU204)
• Marriage certificate
• Death certificate
• if required, birth certificate/proof of study for child(ren)

Requests for Additional Information

Where information provided with the claim for North Macedonian pension is incomplete, North Macedonia will send requests for information in Macedonian direct to customers.

Return of foreign pension claim:

Under the Administrative Arrangements, North Macedonia forms can be lodged in Australia at any service centre.

• All foreign pension claims and supporting documentation must be scanned, and
• The original foreign claim form, the original Macedonian workbook and copies of supporting documentation must be sent in paper form via internal mail to International Services. See Processing a foreign pension claim

International Services (CIS) only:

CIS will complete the following and attach to the foreign pension claim to send to the agreement country. See Agreement Liaison Detail (ALD) for method of transmission.

All claims:

Australia/North Macedonia Agreement on Social Security - Liaison (AUS187MB).

For assistance with creating and completing the liaison form, see: Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

INV claims:

• E213 variant and copies of Australian disability information.

Enquiries regarding claims for Macedonian payments in North Macedonia or a third country should be directed to the Macedonian social security authorities. See the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Macedonian payments may be paid by direct deposit in Australia.

Any queries about the non-payment of Macedonian pension should be directed to the Macedonian pension authorities, see the Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies on the General information tab.

Customers receive 12 regular monthly payments each year. There are no bonus payments. Coded as Freq: 'MTH'.

Note: customers in Australia may receive their Macedonian pension three monthly. FPD coding should not be changed from Freq: 'MTH'

Payments are made in AU dollars. However, foreign income must be recorded in source currency - Macedonian Denar (MKD). Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

Macedonian payments are generally increased for cost of living (CPI) in January and July each year.

For more information on bulk exchanges of information with other countries, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

Macedonian AGE/INV/SUR are:

• ordinary income in all cases except direct deduction if paid under the Agreement in Australia (Article 12.5)

Each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 12.7).

Note: the 26 week temporary departure and return provisions apply (Article 12.4 and 12.6).

Macedonian Funeral Assistance may be exempt from the income test if paid to the person who incurred expenses associated with the bereavement. Otherwise is assessable over 12 months from date of receipt (s1073 Social Security Act 1991) but treated the same as AGE/INV/SUR for the period maintained (see above).

See also, Other known payments.

Amounts that are treated as a direct deduction under an agreement are exempt from the income test (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

Note: payments that are exempt from the income test are included in a direct deduction rate for example, under an agreement rate calculation or for Special Benefit.

There are no exempt payments under the Agreement with North Macedonia.

Policy is that Macedonian Funeral Assistance (посмртна помош) may be exempt from the income test if paid to the person who incurred expenses associated with the bereavement.

The Eligibility and coding tab contains detailed information on the coding of Macedonian payments covered by the Agreement.

If exempt, not coded but details should be recorded in a DOC.

If assessable, Macedonian Funeral Assistance is coded as Type: 'SUR' in the Basic Amount: field.

Note: a review must be set to zero the amount at the end of the 12 month assessment period. In Customer First, create a manual review on the Review Registration (RVR) screen and complete the fields as follows:

• Service Reason: customer's payment type
• Review Reason: OSR (Overseas)
• Due Date: 12 months from date of receipt of Macedonian Funeral Assistance grant
• Source: INT
• Date of Receipt: today's date
• Notes: 'Macedonian Funeral Assistance received xx/xx/xxxx. Zero payment on FPD.'
• Keywords: IATREV
• Workgroup: leave blank
• Position: leave blank
• Transfer to Region: leave blank

The review will mature on the Due Date coded in the RVR activity. Workload Management will allocate the review for manual action.

The Agreement includes embargo provisions (Article 19.2) but they are not used.

Arrears debts for customers and their partners are raised under s1228A Social Security Act 1991 and recovered via normal methods under the Act. See Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears debts.

Note: where an arrears period is not provided, the arrears period end date can be assumed to be the end of the month prior to the date on the notice.

A contravention debt may also occur if the customer does not advise of the grant of their Macedonian payment within their notification period. See Foreign pension coding.

Life Certificates (ПОТВРДА ЗА ЖИВОТ) are issued by North Macedonia every year.

Macedonian Life Certificates can be certified by an officer of the department

For general information about helping customers with life certificates, see Assisting customers to maintain an existing foreign pension.

Customers in Australia are sent notices at grant and will receive an annual statement each year.

Payments are made in AU dollars. However, foreign income must be recorded in source currency - Macedonian Denar (MKD). Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

For assistance with coding:

• other generic benefits paid by the Government of North Macedonia (including by funds not covered by the Agreement), see Foreign pension coding
• any other income received from North Macedonia, see Foreign income and assets