Three foreign players, including Andres Iniesta, a former Spanish national soccer player who played for J1 side Vissel Kobe, were told by the Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau that they had failed to declare a total of more than 2.1 billion yen in contract fees and other expenses. This was revealed through interviews with the people involved. It was determined that the athlete had a base of residence in Japan, such as by bringing his family with him, and it was pointed out that even foreign athletes were required to file a tax return.
The three people who were pointed out were Andres Iniesta, who played for J1 soccer club Vissel Kobe, Kim Jin-hyun, a former South Korean player who played for Cerezo Osaka, and Patrick from Nagoya Grampus.
According to the National Tax Agency, under the Income Tax Act, foreign athletes are classified into Japanese "residents" and "non-residents," and if their contract is less than one year and they do not bring their family with them, they are classified as "non-residents." '', the tax burden will be lighter than for ``residents'' who are required to file a final tax return.
According to sources, Iniesta belonged to Vissel Kobe from July 2018 to July last year, and of this amount, he declared approximately 860 million yen for the contract bonus for 2018, which was a contract for less than one year. This means that a leak was pointed out.
Because he lived with his family and was essentially considered to be on a multi-year contract, it appears that he was judged to be a "resident" rather than a "non-resident," and was fined approximately 580 million yen. That means it was taxed.
Similarly, the amount of additional tax imposed on Kim, who is believed to have been cited for reasons such as having family members living together, will be approximately 220 million yen on the more than 700 million yen contract fee for the five years until 2020.
In addition, the amount of additional tax imposed on Patrick will be approximately 210 million yen for the more than 600 million yen including the five-year contract bonus until 2021 when he belonged to Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Gamba Osaka.
Vissel Kobe: ``I can't answer because it involves a personal contract.''
Vissel Kobe, to which Iniesta belonged, commented, ``We cannot answer this question as it relates to the player's individual contract.''
Cerezo Osaka “Unable to comment regarding personal information”
Cerezo Osaka, to which Kim Jin-hyun belongs, said, ``We cannot comment on contract information as it relates to personal information.''