Japan Claims €3.5 Million from Iniesta for Tax Non-Payment

Spanish footballer Andrés Iniesta is facing a demand of 580 million yen (approximately €3.5 million or $3.7 million) from Japanese tax authorities for allegedly failing to properly declare his income during his stay in the country. According to reports by Japanese media on Friday, Iniesta is one of three foreign footballers who played for Japanese teams and are being pursued by the Japanese Tax Agency for various amounts related to tax non-compliance, totaling 2.1 billion yen (€12.7 million).

The Osaka Regional Tax Office, which oversees the city of Kobe where Iniesta resided during his tenure with Vissel Kobe from July 2018 to July of last year, claims that the footballer failed to declare approximately 860 million yen (about €5.2 million) in contractual fees. Japanese authorities argue that Iniesta, aged 39, was considered a tax resident in Japan due to his residency in Kobe alongside his family, where he also served as a cultural ambassador.

The demand issued by the Japanese Tax Agency includes a surcharge for accumulated tax arrears. It concludes that Iniesta, along with the other two foreign players, failed to properly file their tax returns despite residing in Japan.

The other two footballers implicated in the tax probe are South Korean goalkeeper Kim Jin-hyeon (36) from Cereza Osaka, who allegedly failed to declare 700 million yen (€4.2 million), and Brazilian forward Anderson Patric Aguiar Oliveira, known as “Patric” (36), currently playing for Nagoya Grampus, who reportedly did not declare about 600 million yen (€3.6 million).