The former World Cup winner played for five years with Japanese club Vissel Kobe between 2018 and 2023. Iniesta is said to have failed to declare income of just over NOK 60 million for the 2018 tax year.

This was reported by public broadcaster NHK and other media.

If a foreign athlete has a contract for less than one year and is not accompanied by family members, Japanese authorities classify the athlete as a non-resident. Such cases result in Japanese citizens being charged less taxes, a report by the IRS said.

The Osaka Regional Tax Agency concluded that Iniesta was resident in Japan in 2018 when he brought his family with him and had a multi-year contract. Therefore, an additional tax claim of approximately NOK 41 million was issued.

“In the 2018 financial year, I reported my global income to the tax authorities in Spain,” Iniesta said in a statement issued by his management company.

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The football file added: “The Japanese tax authorities launched an investigation focusing on my residency status according to the tax rules and concluded that I was resident (in Japan) in 2018.”

Iniesta has now paid the additional tax imposed on him.

“That is why my income was double taxed in the period in question,” says the Spaniard, adding that he asked the Spanish authorities to compensate him.

The Osaka Regional Tax Agency did not comment on the case to Agence France-Presse.