Spain Agreement and foreign pension information 106-04032000

In Spain, national legislation needs the compulsory payment of social security contributions on behalf of employees and the self-employed. This is usually through deductions from paid employment.

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

The general scheme covers most workers. Special schemes cover:

• self employed
• coal miners, and
• agricultural, domestic and maritime workers

The legislation and collection of contributions is the responsibility of the Spanish government. The administration and payment of pensions is the responsibility of the centralised institutes for social security and employment.

There is a non-contributory scheme for those with low incomes.

Widow B Pension and Wife Pension were sunsetted in 1995 and, along with Bereavement Allowance, stopped being paid from 2020. See:

• Widow B Pension (WidB)
• Wife Pension (WP)
• Bereavement Allowance (BVA)

Original Agreement - 3 June 1991

The original Agreement with Spain covered:

• Age Pensions
• Invalid Pensions (now Disability Support Pension (DSP))
• Wife Pensions
• Carer Pensions (now Carer Payment (CP)) and
• pensions payable to widows:
• Sole Parent Pension (now Parenting Payment Single (PPS))
• Widow Pension
• Bereavement Allowance (BVA)

Notes:

• There was no requirement for Invalid Pensions (DSP) to be severely disabled
• Carer Pensions were previously needed to be partners of Australian pensioners
• Widows (females only) needed to have been married (de jure) and not currently a member of a couple

Any Wife or Carer Pension granted due to being the partner of Australian pensioner who was paid under the Agreement, was also deemed to be paid under the Agreement.

Provisions under the 1991 Agreement that continue to apply

Portability under the 1991 Agreement was indefinite to any country for:

• Age pensions
• Invalid pensions (now DSP)
• Wife pensions
• Widow B pensions and
• pension payable to a widowed person who became a widowed person while both the person and the spouse were Australian residents
• Other widowed persons and carer pensions (now CP) were only payable indefinitely in Australia or Spain

No provision of the 2003 Agreement could result in a less favourable decision for any payment under the 1991 Agreement meaning the previously more favourable portability rules still apply to those payments.

Note: the 2003 Agreement provided for exemption of 'complemento a minimo' but does not apply to a customer paid under the 1991 Agreement.

Care must be taken before considering transferring a customer from the 1991 Agreement to the 2003 Agreement.

For Australia:

Department of Social Services (DSS)

For Spain:

Ministry of Employment and Social Security - Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social

For Australia:

Services Australia

For Spain:

• National Institute of Social Security - Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social (INSS)
• State Public Employment Service - Servicio Publico de Empleo Estatal (SEPE)
• Institute of Elderly and Social Services - Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Social (IMSERSO)
• Marine Social Institute - Instituto Social de la Marina (ISM)

For Australia:

International Services (CIS)

For Spain:

National Institute of Social Security (INSS) office in Malaga

Under the Agreement with Spain, information held about customers may be exchanged between the Liaison Agencies to determine entitlement to payments under the Agreement only (Article 26.2).

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

Australian liaison form

The following liaison form is completed by International Services (CIS) and sent to Spain:

• Australia/Spain Agreement on Social Security - Liaison Form (AUS187ES)

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

Spanish liaison form

The following form is completed by Spain or the customer and sent to International Services (CIS):

• Formulario De Enlace (Liaison Form) - E/AUS4

This form is used in all communication from Spain.

• Section 1 - Reference Number
• Section 2 - Claim lodged on: provides details of the claim including for the purposes of treating a claim for Spanish pension as a claim for Australian pension (Article 22.3) - See the Lodgement rules and start day on the Australian tab
• Section 3 - Contributor: provides details of the insured person
• Section 4 - Applicant:
• SUR claims only: provides details of the person making the claim if not the contributor
• Section 5 - Information provided by Spain: this section specifies the Spanish information and other forms or documents that may be sent with the liaison
• Section 6 - Information requested by Spain: this section specifies the Australian information needed by Spain
• Section 7 - Spanish Institution: certification by the relevant Spanish competent institution

Under the Administrative Arrangements, each country will send copies of existing medical information to the other country with claims for disability pensions.

Medical examinations will be undertaken upon request. Reimbursement of costs applies, including reasonable travel and accommodation.

For Australia

For Australian DSP claims, Spain arrange for the Detailed Medical Report E/AUS5 to be completed and sent to Australia.

For Spain

For Spanish invalidity claims, International Services (CIS) arrange for a version of the generic European form E213 to be completed and sent to Spain. 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 Spain does not include double coverage provisions.

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

Tax Treaty

Australia has a double tax agreement with Spain, which avoids the need to pay tax in both countries. Tax deductions from pensions from one country are allowed as a credit against tax payable for residents of the other country.

Tax deductions

Spanish pensions are not taxed in Australia. Spanish pensions in other countries over a certain level may be taxed at source (Retenciones).

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

Spanish tax year

Spain 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.
• Medicare coverage - should be directed to Medicare, see Medicare Consumers Program Support - Medicare Consumers Section - Medicare Branch

Australia does not have a reciprocal health agreement with Spain.

The official language of Spain is Spanish.

Naming conventions and pronunciations.

The telephone country code is +34.

Street delivery

Sr. FirstName Surname(s) [Title, addressee]

Plaza de las Descalzas 27, Esc 2, 3º, C [Street, premise, stairwell, floor, door]

45012 TOLEDO [Postcode, locality]

TOLEDO [Province]

SPAIN

ADS screen coding for above address

Sr FirstName Surname(s)

Plaza de las Descalzas Num 27-2-3-C

5012 Toledo

Toledo Spain

With building

Srta. FirstName Surname(s) [Title, addressee]

Edificio Lepanto [Building]

Calle Huertas 18, 4º, C [Street, premise, floor, door]

29400 MARBELLA [Postcode, locality]

MÁLAGA [Province]

SPAIN

With sub-locality

Sr. FirstName Surname(s) [Title, addressee]

Barrio de San Roque [Sub-locality]

09692 CANICOSA DE LA SIERRA [Postcode, locality]

BURGOS [Province]

SPAIN

P.O. Box address

Sra FirstName Surname(s) [Title, addressee]

Apartado 324 [Post Office Box, number]

33400 AVILÉS [Postcode, locality]

ASTURIAS [Province]

SPAIN

Same-sex marriage has been legal since July 3 2005.

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

• Age Pension
• Disability Support Pension (DSP) for severely disabled
• Carer Payment (CP)
• Parenting Payment Single (PPS)
• Double Orphan Pension (DOP)

Notes:

• Carer partners of AGE/DSP in Spain only (Article 1)
• Only a 'widowed person' may be granted PPS under the Agreement. 'Widowed person' means a person (either sex) who stops being a member of a legally married couple (de jure) because of the death of their partner and who is not currently a member of a couple (Article 1)
• Additional child amounts, also known as Overseas Child Component and Additional Child Payment, are included in the proportional rate calculation
• The DOP and Bereavement Smart Centre Processing Team assess and code all DOP claims. Re-categorise DOP claims to ZIAM_DOP_NCL. For help, see Bereavement/Double Orphan Pension Helpdesk
• While BVA cannot be claimed after 20 March 2020, claims lodged prior to this date may still be received

Claims for Australian payments under agreements use the same methods and processes as domestic claims. See Claim for Australian payments under International Agreements.

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

Forms needed

For all payments:

• AUS140ES - Australian pension claim - Agreement with Spain
• Mod(iA)ES - Income and Assets - Spanish

Additional medical forms:

• DSP:
• AUS142ES - Work Capacity - Customer Information - Spanish
• CP:
• AUS156 - Assessment for Carer Payment
• AUS156a - Health Professional Assessment for Carer Payment

Forms can be lodged at any Spanish social security office.

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

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, a resident of Spain or a third agreement country that accepts claims for Australian pension under another agreement (Article 7.1(a)), and
• physically present in Australia, Spain or that third country (Article 7.1(b))

Australian claims under the Spanish Agreement may be lodged in some other Australian social security agreement countries.

Spain will accept claims for Australian benefits under other Australian social security agreements.

Note: the customer must also satisfy any other rules under the other agreement and other social security law provisions, including portability. For example, DSP can be claimed in a third country but has an ongoing residence requirement. Therefore, if the claimant is:

• living in the other country, DSP cannot be paid
• temporarily in the other country, DSP may generally be paid for the period it is portable under domestic legislation

See Claim Lodgement Matrix (CLM).

The normal rules for working out the start day apply to a claim under the Agreement with Spain, however, the Agreement also allows:

• the date of lodgement of a claim for an Australian payment in Spain to be used as the date of lodgement in Australia (Article 22.2)
• the date of lodgement of a claim for Spanish pension to be used as the date of lodgement of the corresponding Australian benefit (FP claim = AU claim) if the customer declares periods of residence in Australia at the time of claiming the Spanish payment (Article 22.3)

See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements and Start Day (CLK) for help with coding.

The Agreement allows:

• totalisation of periods of qualifying Australian residence and periods of coverage in Spain to meet any minimum periods to qualify for an Australian pension, for example, 10 years for Age Pension (Article 9.1)
• the total of any non-continuous Spanish periods of coverage to be considered to be continuous to meet any continuous residence requirement to claim an Australian pension (Article 9.2)

Notes:

• Overlapping periods are only counted once (Article 9.3)
• Policy advice is that adjoining periods of Australian qualifying residence and Spanish periods of coverage, with a break of up to three months in between, can also be considered to be continuous
• The requirement to have been an Australian resident at some time does not apply to Double Orphan Pension (DOP) (Article 7.2)

Spanish periods of coverage means a creditable period defined in the legislation of Spain as well as any period considered a creditable period under that legislation as an equivalent period.

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 six months must be continuous (Article 9.4(a)).

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

No minimum WLR is needed if the person is an Australian resident at the date of lodgement (Article 9.4(b)).

CP has no qualifying residence periods but does have a Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP). Beside normal exemptions, a NARWP only applies to a person who has ‘entered Australia'. See: Newly Arrived Resident's Waiting Period (NARWP) and Qualifying Residence Period. A person who is resident and present outside Australia has not entered Australia and therefore does not have a NARWP. To avoid granting CP to a person who has never been to Australia, the Agreement needs a person to have been an Australian resident at some time (Article 8.1).

The Agreement allows the ongoing residence requirement for DSP, PPS and CP to be met if the customer continues to reside in Spain (Article 5.1).

The Agreement with Spain refers to the overall rate calculation contained in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (Article 10.1).

This means that customers paid under the Agreement who are outside Australia are paid a proportional rate according to their Australian Working Life Residence (WLR) and additional child amounts are included in the proportional rate. This also means that the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applies.

Note: this does not apply to Double Orphan Pension (DOP) (Article 10.1).

The proportional rate also includes the proportionalisation of the Spanish pension (Randisi concession) for use in the income test (Article 10.1). The rate of foreign pension used in the income test is the customer’s Australian WLR divided by 300. The Agreement determines the Randisi proportion (300 months). This is different to the legislation that is used to determine the proportional rate (420 months in most cases).

Autonomous customers who are paid a proportional rate and in receipt of a Spanish pension will also have the Randisi concession applied to their Spanish pension (Article 10.2).

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
• resident in Australia and paid a proportional rate due to the comparison rate

Returns to Australia

The proportional rate continues to apply for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia (Article 10.3).

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 10.4). That is, all Spanish 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.

Note: this does not apply to Double Orphan Pension (DOP) (Article 10.4).

The rate paid from grant of a new claim is based on where the customer is present, even if resident in the other country and irrespective of the 26 week temporary departure provision.

For example, a person who is resident in Spain lodges a claim while temporarily in Australia:

• If granted from a date when they were or are still in Australia, they will be paid the direct deduction rate (including comparison) from grant. The rate will swap to the proportional rate from the date they leave Australia
• If granted from a date when they were again outside Australia, for example, early claim, they will be paid the proportional rate immediately

Departures from Australia

The inside Australia rate continues to be paid for the first 26 weeks of a temporary departure from Australia (Article 10.6).

The Agreement with Spain specifies the rate calculation that applies 'where an Australian pension is payable whether by virtue of this Agreement or otherwise to a person who is outside Australia' (Article 10.1). See Outside Australia in Rate calculation.

Note: 'or otherwise' refers to autonomous customers.

Payment's 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 Spanish payments tab.

Under the Agreement, provided the customer remains qualified, Australian payments are payable indefinitely in both countries, that is, for temporary or permanent absences (Article 5.1).

Portability to third countries for a customer paid under the Agreement is the same as for an autonomous customer leaving Australia (Article 5.2). See Portability of payments.

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

Note: the customer must meet the transfer requirements and satisfy any payment specific requirements under the Agreement. For example, being severely disabled for DSP.

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 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 from the Agreement to autonomous if the person is 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).

• Jubilacion - Retirement Pension (AGE)
• Incapacidadpermanente/temporal - Permanent/temporary incapacity (INV)
• Supervivencia - Survivor Pension (SUR)
• Viudedad (Widow)
• Orfandad (Orphan)
• en favor de familiars (Family members)
• Auxilio por defuncion (Death Grant)
• Family Benefits
• Prestaciones familiares (FAM)
• Prestacion economica por hijo/menores a cargo (for dependent child/ren)
• Prestacion/Subsidio por desempleo - Unemployment Benefit (UMB)
• maternidad/ embarazo - Benefits for maternity or risk during pregnancy

Notes:

• Spain recently introduced legislation that allows a person to continue working (part-time) and be paid a retirement pension from Spain. There are now three types of retirement pension:
• Ordinary retirement (jubilación ordinaria) - cease work fully, received life retirement pension
• Flexible retirement (jubilación flexible) - receive part pension with part-time work
• Partial retirement (jubilación parcial) - not reached retirement pension and combines part time employment with part retirement pension
• The special scheme covering civil servants (Regimen de Clases Pasivas) is not covered by the Agreement. See Other known payments
• Seguro Obligatorio de Vejez e Invalidez (SOVI) applies to those who paid contributions to an old, defunct scheme but do not have an entitlement under the current schemes. These payments are the equivalent of AGE (Vejez) or INV (Invalidez)
• Permanent/temporary incapacity may be non-work related or for work related injuries and occupational diseases (accidentes de trabajo y enfermedades profesionales). This affects the payment frequency. See Payment method and Indexation (CPI) on the Spanish payments tab
• Instituto de Mayores y Servicios Sociales (IMSERSO) is the organisation, which manages the Spanish non-contributory scheme that provides benefits for those in Spain with low income. IMSERSO payments are exempt under the Agreement. See
• Assessment and exempt payments
• Other known payments

Minimum amounts apply (cuantias mínimas) and payments are added to the main benefits (complemento a mínimo).

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

Notes:

• The requirement to claim SUR does not apply to Orphan Pension or Death Grant
• Customers may voluntarily claim Orphan Pension or SUR for family members (en favor de familiares) using the SUR claim pack. See Claim forms and processes

Contributions paid by employers and employees. May include child rearing periods.

The Eligibility and coding tab has detailed information on Spanish payment that are subject to CFP legislation.

Claim packs available: AGE/SUR and INV.

Claim packs for Spanish payments can be issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS).

Specific requirements for Spanish claims

All claims

The customer is to complete and provide the following:

• Application for Benefits under the Spanish Legislation (E-AUS1)

AGE claims:

• Attachment 1 - Retirement Pension

SUR claims:

• Attachment 2 - Survivor's Pension/Benefit
• Evidence of marriage registration (certification) from the Spanish diplomatic mission .

Note: additional Page for E-AUS1 is needed if the person wishes to claim SUR as a family member of the deceased (prestacion en favor de familiares).

INV claims:

• Attachment 3 - Invalidity Pension

Requests for Additional Information

If information provided with the claim for Spanish pension is incomplete, Spain will send requests for information in Spanish direct to customers.

Return of foreign pension claim

Under the Administrative Arrangements, Spanish 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 and copies of supporting documentation must be sent in paper form via internal mail to International Services (CIS). 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/Spain Agreement on Social Security - Liaison Form (AUS187ES)

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

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

Spanish payments can be made in Australia by direct deposit or cheque.

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

Customers receive 12 regular monthly payments and two bonus payments in June and November, coded as Freq: '14P'.

Note: payments under the Work Related Injury Regulation (Reglamento de Accidentes de Trabajo) do not receive bonus payments. Coded as 12 x monthly payment as Freq: 'ANN'.

Payments into Australia are paid in US dollars, however all foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency. Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Amounts recorded in source currency on the FPD screen must not be changed to the US dollar amount.

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

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

Spanish AGE/INV/SUR/UMB are:

• proportionalised according to the customer's WLR before being included in the income test where the Australian rate is proportional, including Agreement and autonomous customers (Article 10.1), and
• ordinary income in Australia for autonomous customers and direct deduction if paid under the Agreement (Article 10.5)

Each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 10.5).

Amounts coded in the Social Welfare: field - complemento a minimo, subsidio por desempleo - are exempt for customers outside Australia (Article 10.1).

Note: this does not apply to customers paid under the 1991 Agreement.

Spanish Family Benefits (FAM)

Spanish family benefits (Prestacion economica por hijo a cargo) are exempt for all customers outside Australia (Article 10.1). Ordinary income in Australia for autonomous customers and direct deduction if paid under the Agreement (Article 10.4).

Benefits for maternity or risk during pregnancy - maternidad/embarazo

These benefits are covered by the Agreement and are treated the same as AGE/INV/SUR for the period maintained (see above).

See 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 (SpB).

Under the Agreement, the following Spanish payments are exempt from the income test for customers outside Australia:

• supplement to the minimum contributory pension (complemento a minimo)
• family benefit for a dependent child/ren (prestacion economica por hijo/menores a cargo)

All Spanish non-contributory benefits are also exempt for customers outside Australia. See Other known payments.

Note: the non-contributory unemployment subsidy (subsidio por desempleo) is also exempt. These exemptions also apply to autonomous customers.

Death Grant - Auxilio por defuncion

Policy advice is that foreign bereavement payments may be exempt if it is paid to a person who incurred expenses associated with the death. If not exempt, Spanish Death Grant is an assessable lump sum treated as ordinary income over 12 months from date of receipt (s1073 Social Security Act 1991). See Treatment of lump sums.

See the Eligibility and coding tab for detailed information on the coding of Spanish payments covered by the Agreement.

Spanish family benefits (Prestacion economica por hijo a cargo) are coded as Type: 'FAM' in the Social/Welfare Amt: field.

If exempt, not coded but details recorded on a DOC.

If not exempt, it is treated as an assessable a lump sum over 12 months from date of receipt (s1073 Social Security Act 1991). See Treatment of lump sums.

Assessable lump sums are coded on the Foreign Income Details (FID) screen as Type: 'LMP'. See Treatment of lump sums.

Note: if the customer has a claim in progress on FGS, but is not granted a foreign pension, FGD must be updated to FIN-NOM when lump sum FID coding is completed

No specific code exists for these payments. May be coded as Type: 'INV' in the Basic Amount: field.

The Agreement includes embargo provisions (Article 24.1) but they are not used.

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

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

Life certificates are needed annually. Customers are not sent forms but can obtain and submit forms through a Spanish consulate.

An Officer of Services Australia can certify a Spanish life certificate.

The Spanish authorities will also accept the Australian bilingual life certificate (AUS061ES). See Resources for a link.

Note: life certificates must not be scanned.

For information on helping customers with a life certificate, see: Assisting customers to maintain an existing foreign pension.

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

Payments into Australia are paid in US dollars, however all foreign pensions must be recorded in the source currency (Euro). Official statements provide the US dollar amounts.

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

• Non-contributive Retirement/Invalidity - Pension no Contributiva (PNC) de Jubilacion/Invalidez
• payments under the Law for Social Integration of People with Disabilities - Ley de Integracion Social de las personas con Discapacidad (Lismi)
• payments under the System for Autonomy, Care and Dependency - Sistema para la Autonomía y Atención a la Dependencia (SAAD):

Prestacion economica:

• vinculada al servicio
• para cuidados/cuidadores
• asistencia personal

• Help for people affected by thalidomide - Ayudas a las personas afectadas por talidomida
• various grants - Subvenciones

Note: benefits may be paid by provincial authorities. For example, Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia, Murcia, Aragon, Castilla y Leon, Balearic Islands, Navarre, Asturias, Catalonia, La Rioja, Basque Country, Canary Islands, Ceuta, Madrid, Comunitat Valenciana, Cantabria, Extremadura, Melilla.

Assessment: Exempt income if outside Australia (Article 10.1(a)(iii)) and for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia. Otherwise ordinary income.

Coding: On the Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen, Type: 'SOC', code in Social/Welfare Amt: field.

Note: generally not paid outside Spain. Coding should be reviewed if customer is in Australia.

The payments are equivalent to Spanish AGE/INV/SUR but are not covered by the Agreement.

Assessment: Ordinary income

Coding: On the Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen, Type: 'OPN', code in Basic Amount: field.

For help with:

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