Japanese tax authorities have reportedly ordered Spanish soccer star Andres Iniesta and two other international players to pay penalty taxes worth a total of millions of dollars, for failing to declare part of their income from contracts with Japanese club teams.

The issue stems from taxation rules in Japan under which foreign professional athletes are divided into resident and nonresident categories.

Athletes whose contracts run less than a year and are unaccompanied by family members in Japan are treated as nonresidents with lighter tax burdens. Those that do not meet the conditions are deemed residents and have to file a tax return.

Iniesta belonged to Vissel Kobe in the J-League's top division for five years until July 2023. His initial contract from July 2018 lasted less than one year.

However, informed sources say tax authorities appear to have determined that the contract effectively covered multiple years. And because Iniesta lived with his family in Japan, he was apparently judged to be a resident taxpayer.

The sources say Iniesta was slapped with penalty taxes worth around 580 million yen, or about 3.8 million dollars, on undeclared income of about 5.7 million dollars associated with the 2018 contract.

The sources say former South Korean national team player Kim Jin-hyeon was also ordered to pay about 1.5 million dollars for similar reasons. The penalties covered his five-year contract with Cerezo Osaka through 2020.

Brazilian player Patric was similarly ordered to pay about 1.4 million dollars for his contracts with two club teams -- Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Gamba Osaka -- in the five years to 2021. Patric now plays for another J-League team, the Nagoya Grampus.

Vissel Kobe, Iniesta's former team, declined to comment on issues involving personal contracts. Cerezo Osaka, which Kim belongs to, also declined to comment, saying players' contracts contain personal information.