Retire in Austria: the 2026 retirement visa income requirement (settlement permit) and a life annuity
Written by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294Short answer: To retire in Austria, Americans use the settlement permit with gainful employment excluded (Niederlassungsbewilligung ausgenommen Erwerbstätigkeit), the closest thing to an Austria retirement visa, which in 2026 requires regular net income of €2,616.78 a month for a single person and €4,128.24 for a married couple (about $3,062 and $4,830 at $1.17 per euro), plus €403.76 per child. Rent and loan payments above €386.43 a month raise the bar, places are capped by a yearly quota, and German at A1 level is required. A life-only SPIA gives the fixed, regular income the law asks for, and Austria has no wealth tax.
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The Austria retirement visa requirement in 2026
If you want to retire in Austria, there is one settlement route for people who will not work: the settlement permit with gainful employment excluded. It is one of the highest income bars in Europe for retirees, and it comes with a quota. migration.gv.at lists these 2026 amounts, set at double the ASVG § 293 reference rates (Richtsätze) under NAG § 44(1) item 3; the table below sets them out.
The rent rule matters. NAG § 11(5) says regular expenses such as rent and loan payments reduce your countable income, after a one-time allowance (€386.43 in 2026, per the City of Vienna). Rent a Vienna flat at €1,100 a month and you need €713.57 more, so a single person needs about €3,330 net a month, about $3,896.
Other conditions: a free place within the yearly quota for your state (Bundesland), German at A1 level for the first application, health insurance that pays in Austria and covers all risks, and a legal title to locally customary housing. The first permit is valid for up to 12 months and must be renewed before it expires.
Single or married: how much income you need to retire in Austria
| Household (2026) | Monthly (net) | About USD a month | Whose income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | €2,616.78 | $3,062 | Your own |
| Married couple or registered partners | €4,128.24 | $4,830 | Household: a spouse’s income counts if you live together |
| Each child, on top | €403.76 | $472 | Household |
| Plus regular rent, loans, support above | €386.43 (“freie Station”) | $452 | Raises the bar |
FX assumption: €1 = $1.17, a planning rate; the ECB reference rate was $1.1225 on 2 October 2026, so these dollar figures include about 4% of headroom. The rates are reset every year.
When only one spouse has income. The City of Vienna says a spouse’s or registered partner’s income counts toward yours when you live in a shared household, so one spouse’s pension can carry the couple rate of €4,128.24, provided it reaches that figure net. Confirm with the authority for your address how your spouse’s permit and quota place are handled. If the earning spouse falls short, buy the lifetime annuity in that spouse’s name, priced on his or her own age and sex, while you are both still US residents.
A US tax note (general information, confirm with a tax adviser): if you buy an annuity for the other spouse, that is a gift. Gifts between two US-citizen spouses are unlimited. To a spouse who is not a US citizen, the 2026 annual exclusion is $194,000; above that you file Form 709, and generally no tax is due.
Income, savings and why lifetime income fits
The law asks for “fixed and regular own income.” migration.gv.at lists Austrian or foreign pensions, income from assets and savings as sources. The City of Vienna, which handles applications there, divides quickly available savings (bank balances, securities, life insurance) by 12 and adds the result to monthly income, so a balance can cover one permit year. That is honest and useful. But you prove it again at every renewal, and the balance shrinks while you live on it.
A life-only SPIA answers the test in its own words: a fixed amount, every month, for life. Note that Austria counts net income, after tax. Size the annuity on what lands after US withholding, not the gross.
Which annuity counts. A life-only SPIA, a joint and survivor SPIA, or an existing deferred annuity or MYGA converted to lifetime payments is fixed, regular income. A period-certain annuity, an income rider (GLWB) where an account value can still be cashed out, or an annuity still accumulating reads as savings. Austria counts savings divided by 12 anyway, so the annuity is what keeps renewals easy.
- Social benefits you would only get after the permit, such as the Austrian equalization supplement, never count.
- Use 10 to 25% headroom: the ASVG rates rise each year and rent can too.
Why I write about this. My mom is Norwegian, my dad is American, and they’re planning the move from the US to Norway. My mom is the sponsor (the host, or “reference person” in UDI’s words), so Norway’s income test falls on her income, not my dad’s. UDI told us in writing that money in an account does not count as income, and only lifelong income does. Their savings were not the problem; the paperwork wanted a monthly number in the host’s name. The rules in Austria are different, but the problem is the same one many retirees hit: the income test, not the net worth. I’m writing this to help others in the same boat as my parents. Read how we worked through the Norway income requirement.
In the same boat? Let’s run your numbers
See roughly what a lifetime annuity would cost to close your income gap, then get my personal read by email. I can help while you still live in the US.
Estimates use the September 9, 2026 ImmediateAnnuities.com payout survey (life only) and a 15% cushion. Illustrative, not a quote.
Example: a 62-year-old American moving to Austria
Payout at age 62 from the ImmediateAnnuities.com survey of September 9, 2026, life-only, per $100,000 per month: man $603 average ($660 best quote), woman $582 average ($637 best quote). Premium = monthly bar / payout per $100,000 x $100,000, rounded. Illustrative, not a quote. Base rates only, before rent above €386.43 and before tax.
| Age 62, no other income | Monthly bar | Premium, average payout | Premium, best quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single man | $3,062 | $508,000 | $464,000 |
| Single woman | $3,062 | $526,000 | $481,000 |
| Couple (single-life annuity on the husband) | $4,830 | $801,000 | $732,000 |
Social Security can start at 62 and counts at its net amount: a single man with $2,000 a month of it needs $1,062 more, about $176,000 at the average rate. Rent pushes the bar up (a €1,100 Vienna flat adds €713.57 a month), and Austria measures net income, so gross up for tax. A joint and survivor annuity pays less per dollar than single life, so get a quote, and add 10 to 25% headroom.
Sizing on net, not gross
Because Austria measures net income, work backward. Start with the €2,616.78 or €4,128.24 rate, add rent above €386.43, convert at a cautious exchange rate, then gross up for the tax you will actually pay. In the early years the Austrian side is light thanks to § 29 EStG, but the US taxes the taxable part of each payment, and US withholding comes out before the money reaches you. Your statements should show the net deposit clearing the bar on its own. Social Security counts at its net amount too.
The quota, in plain terms
The income test is only half of Austria. The federal government fixes each year how many of these permits each state may issue, and in Vienna the immigration office (MA 35) allocates places by the date of application, by appointment only. The City of Vienna says plainly that when many people apply, you may not get a permit. So the sequence is: secure housing, pass German A1, arrange health cover, have the income already paying, then file early in the year once places open. A file that is complete on day one is the only lever you control.
How the annuity is taxed: Austria and the US
The US side
As a US citizen you stay taxable on worldwide income wherever you live. A US single premium immediate annuity bought with after-tax savings is taxed under IRC 72: an exclusion ratio makes part of each payment a non-taxable return of your premium until the premium is recovered. If you bought it with IRA money, every payment is taxable. The foreign earned income exclusion does not cover annuities (IRC 911(b)(1)(B)(i)). Foreign tax on the payments can be credited on Form 1116, through the treaty’s relief article where there is one. Since January 1, 2026, a US citizen with a foreign residence address cannot opt out of federal withholding, even if payments go to a US account (IRC 3405(e)(13), Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1). Withholding is a prepayment, not extra tax. An annuity from a US insurer is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938, and it is not a PFIC.
The treaty
The US-Austria treaty’s annuity clause (Article 18(2)) covers payments “during a specified number of years” and does not mention life, so a life annuity most likely falls under the other-income article (Article 21(1)), which also gives the country of residence the right to tax. Either way Austria taxes first. The saving clause (Article 1(4)) lets the US tax its citizens, and Article 22(2)(c) treats the income as arising in Austria to the extent needed to avoid double tax, so Austrian tax can be credited on Form 1116.
US Social Security paid to an Austrian resident is taxable only in the US (Article 18(1)(b)).
The Austrian side
Austria is gentle on purchased annuities at the start. Under § 29 Z 1 of the Income Tax Act (EStG 1988), recurring payments received as adequate consideration for transferred assets are taxable only once the total you have received exceeds the value of what you gave. Until your payments add up to the premium, there is generally no Austrian income tax on them; after that, they are taxed at normal progressive rates. Confirm with an Austrian tax adviser (Steuerberater) in writing how the authority applies this to a SPIA from a US insurer.
Net result
In the early years the US tax on the taxable part of each payment is usually the binding tax, since Austria taxes little or nothing until the premium is recovered. Later, once Austrian tax starts, you pay roughly the higher of the two, not both. Compared with drawing down savings, the annuity is close to tax-neutral at first; the real cost in Austria is that the income test counts net income.
Does Austria have a wealth tax?
No. PwC says there is no wealth tax in Austria (reviewed July 2026), so the annuity is about the income test and the tax timing above, not about shrinking a wealth tax bill.
Practical rules
- Check quota availability and appointment rules with the authority for your intended address (MA 35 in Vienna; the provincial government in Lower Austria).
- Buy the SPIA while you still have a US address and keep a US bank account for deposits. Once your residence address is abroad you cannot opt out of federal withholding (IRC 3405(e)(13)), so size on the net deposit.
- Start payments 3 to 12 months before applying; bring statements and an insurer letter stating the amount is payable for the lifetime of the annuitant.
- Pass German A1 (certificate not older than one year) and arrange full-risk health cover first. Module 1 of the Integration Agreement follows within two years.
- A US SPIA is not reported on FBAR or Form 8938 and is not a PFIC.
The trade-offs, once
A SPIA is irrevocable, level unless you add a cost-of-living rider, paid in dollars against a euro bar, and backed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability. Payouts are lower at younger ages. Meeting the income test does not create a quota place, and the authority decides each file.
Married? Make the income outlive either of you. In Austria the main applicant shows the income and the spouse joins as a family member, so the annuity sits with the main applicant. If a single-life annuity is on one spouse and that spouse dies first, the payments stop, and the surviving spouse may have to show income of their own at the next renewal. A joint and survivor annuity, which keeps paying until the second death, or a separate annuity on each spouse closes that gap. Joint and survivor pays less per dollar than single life, so ask for both quotes and compare.
Frequently asked questions
Free annuity gap analysis for Austria. Tell me your ages, your Social Security or pension, and whether you are single or a couple. I will show how far your income is from the Austria requirement and what a lifetime annuity would cost to fill the gap, in the sponsor’s or main applicant’s name where that matters.
Related reading
- Moving abroad on a fixed income: hub
- How European countries tax a US annuity
- Switzerland retirement and wealth tax
- Italy elective residence visa
- France long-stay visitor visa
- Cyprus Category F permit
Sources
- migration.gv.at: settlement permit, gainful employment excepted (2026 rates)
- City of Vienna: calculating secured livelihood (2026 rates, freie Station)
- City of Vienna: settlement permit excluding employment
- RIS: NAG section 11 (general conditions, income test)
- RIS: NAG section 44 (settlement permit excluding employment, twice the ASVG rates)
- RIS: EStG 1988 section 29 (recurring payments)
- US-Austria income tax treaty (IRS text), Articles 1, 18, 21 and 22
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Austria, other taxes (no wealth tax)
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.42 (2026: $194,000 gifts to a non-citizen spouse)
- 26 U.S.C. 3405 (withholding on pensions and annuities)
- Treas. Reg. 31.3405(e)-1 (no withholding opt-out with a foreign residence address)
- ImmediateAnnuities.com: immediate annuity rates by age (survey of September 9, 2026)
Goldstein & Co. LLC dba Goldstein Insurance Services · Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent, CA lic. #4273294 · NPN 20602398 · 213-414-2808 · hans@hansgoldstein.com
Education, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules, thresholds and exchange rates change; confirm with the consulate or immigration authority and a local tax adviser before you act, and get answers in writing. Hans Goldstein is a licensed insurance agent (CA 4273294) and can only offer annuities to residents of states where he is licensed. Annuity payments are guaranteed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability, not by any government. Payout figures are illustrations from a published survey, not quotes. Immediate annuities are generally irrevocable.