Shakira’s eight-year tax fraud nightmare ends with acquittal in Spain
Shakira’s long tax evasion nightmare ended with the Spanish government being forced to refund nearly $70 million to the Colombian-born singer after prosecutors failed to prove she had spent enough time in the country to owe some of her earnings.
Since 2018, the singer has been accused of defrauding the Spanish government in three cases relating to the 2011, 2012-2014 and 2018 tax years. Over the years, deals have been offered, rejected and accepted; charges dropped, other charges filed; and was threatened with eight years in prison.
In 2022, Shakira maintained her innocence, saying, “The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started drooling,” referring to her relationship with Barcelona-born football player Gerard Piqué, the father of her sons Milan and Sasha. Piqué and the singer, who met in 2010 while performing “Waka Waka”, the official song of that year’s FIFA World Cup, broke up in 2022.
A representative for the singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on the court decision.
But even though there was no fraud, Shakira told People in a statement on Monday, “I was treated like a criminal for almost a decade. Every step of the process was leaked, distorted, and exaggerated; my name and public image were used to send a threatening message to other taxpayers.”
He added: “Today that narrative is collapsing, and it is doing so with the full force of the court decision.”
It all revolved around how many days Shakira spent in Spain during the years in question. Since her legal residence was in the Bahamas before declaring Spain her financial home in 2014, she had to spend more than half the year outside her lover’s hometown to avoid paying taxes there.
“They knew I wasn’t in Spain for the required time, that Spain wasn’t my place of business or source of income, but they still came after me with their eyes on the prize,” Shakira told Elle in 2022, adding that she was confident that justice would prevail in her favor at the trial. “I have enough evidence.”
The amount the Spanish government owes him includes fines and interest, in addition to money he surrendered even though he was not legally obliged to pay it.
In other Shakira news, she and Burna Boy were just released 2026 FIFA World Cup songTitled “Dai Dai”.
