Pop star Shakira is acquitted in a Spanish tax fraud case

A court in Madrid has ordered Spain’s tax authority to pay Shakira back more than €55m (£48m) after ruling that it had wrongly imposed huge fines on the Colombian singer and philanthropist because it had made mistakes over her tax status.

In a statement released on Monday, the Audiencia Nacional said it had accepted an appeal from Shakira against the fine she was handed five years ago after the Agencia Tributaria claimed she had not paid the necessary tax in Spain in 2011. At that time, the singer was in a relationship with the FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué.

The court said the agency had failed to prove that Shakira had spent more than 183 days in Spain that year, which would have obliged her to pay personal income tax in the country.

“On the contrary, the court understands that Shakira’s stay in our country was 163 days and that the tax agency has therefore not proved that the singer had core economic interests in Spain … as set out in the terms established [by law],” the statement said.

The court ordered the tax agency to return the amounts it had fined Shakira and to pay her interest and costs.

However, it also pointed out that its decision – which can be appealed against in the supreme court – related only to the 2011 tax case.

In November 2023, the singer reached a settlement with prosecutors to avoid a trial in Barcelona over charges she had failed to pay €14.5m (£12.7m) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.

As part of the deal, she accepted the charges and a fine of 50% of the amount owed, more than €7.3m. She also accepted a further fine of €438,000 to avoid a three-year prison sentence. Shakira had previously accused Spain’s tax agency of waging “a salacious press campaign” against her and insisted she owed nothing.

In a statement issued by her lawyer after Monday’s decision, she said the court had recognised that no fraud had been committed in 2011.

“After more than eight years of enduring a brutal public shaming, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and countless sleepless nights that ended up affecting my health and the wellbeing of my family, the Audiencia Nacional has finally set things right,” she added.

This brief was synthesized by our Editorial Engine and reviewed by The Ground Narrative team.