The tax returns don’t lie – Shakira prepares for court battle in Barcelona

Pop star Shakira is to stand trial in a Spanish court accused of defrauding tax collectors out of 14.5 million euros (536 million baht) between 2012 and 2014. The singer, whose real name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, said she didn’t move to Spain until 2015.

A court in Barcelona charged the megastar with tax crimes but no date has been set for her appearance. Prosecutors are demanding jail time for the former star of The Voice, who faces up to eight years in prison and fines of about 24 million euros if found guilty.

The 45 year old denied any wrongdoing.

She said…

“I am confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favour.”

Shakira recently split with her partner of 11 years, Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, with whom she has two sons. It is reported the former Spain international is involved with another woman.

Central to the claims and counterclaims is Shakira’s residency status between 2012 and 2014 when she was living mostly in Spain but gave an official address in the Bahamas.

Under Spanish tax law, anyone who spends more than half the year in the country is considered a resident. In July, prosecutors claimed that the singer purchased a house in Barcelona in 2012 that served as the family home for her and Piqué. Shakira’s lawyers claim that until 2014, most of her money came from international tours involving long periods outside of Spain.

Shakira made Spain her place of residence for tax purposes in 2015, claims to have paid 17.2 million euros in tax, and says she has no outstanding debts. Piqué on the other hand has been fined 2.1 million euros for evading tax between 2008 and 2010.

The singer added…

“The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what.”

Spanish prosecutors initially accused Shakira of committing tax evasion in 2018, when they said the singer should have paid taxes in the country between 2012 and 2014 because she spent more than half her time there, despite her official residence being listed as the Bahamas, according to the Associated Press.

The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer lost an attempt to avoid court in May, and later rejected a deal with prosecutors, which she told Elle was because, “I have to fight for what I believe, because these are false accusations.

“I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one.”

Spain has a grand tradition of hunting down tax evaders, perhaps most famously having gone after Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo pleaded guilty to tax fraud in 2019. Lionel Messi was also found guilty of tax evasion. As first-time offenders, neither went to prison.

SOURCE BBC