Shakira likely to face tax fraud trial, Spanish court dismisses appeal
PremiumShakira is likely to face a tax fraud trial as a Spanish court dismissed her appeal on May 26.
Shakira may face tax fraud charges in Spain after a Barcelona court dismissed her appeal, according to a verdict made public on May 26. Prosecutors accuse the 45-year-old Colombian singer of defrauding the Spanish tax office of 14.5 million euros ($15.5 million) in income received between 2012 and 2014.
Prosecutors allege that, even after moving to Spain in 2011 because of her relation with FC Barcelona player Gerard Pique, Shakira kept her formal tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015. Her defence team claims she only came to Spain full-time in 2015 and has paid all of her taxes.
The case first made headlines in December 2018 after Spanish prosecutors charged Shakira with failing to pay taxes on income earned between 2012 and 2014. However, she denied any wrongdoing while testifying in June 2019.
Shakira's lawyers said in a statement that she had "no arrears to the Spanish tax authorities" and that she paid any monies requested by the tax authorities "as soon as she became aware of the amount." Shakira, whose records have sold over 60 million copies worldwide, shares a home with Pique on the outskirts of Barcelona. They have two children together.
They also claimed that her "tax conduct has always been flawless in all the nations in which she has had to pay taxes."
They claim that she earned the majority of her money from overseas tours until 2014, did not spend more than six months a year in Spain, and hence was not a tax resident under Spanish law.
However, a court in Barcelona decided that the "evidence given to substantiate" tax residency abroad did not appear to be “sufficient".
"We can consider that the appellant had her usual residence in Spain," the court added in a ruling made public on May 26.
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The judgement upholds a previous court decision from 2021. Before the court may order a trial, prosecutors must now present an indictment.
(With agency inputs)
