Spanish Court Orders Tax Agency to Return €55 Million to Shakira

Madrid. A Spanish court has ordered the country's tax administration to return 55 million euros collected from famous singer Shakira. The National High Court ruled that the amount was collected incorrectly in a tax dispute, acquitting Colombian singer Shakira of tax evasion charges. The court has ordered the Treasury to return the amount with interest to Shakira. The court issued this verdict after tax officials could not prove that Shakira had spent 183 days in Spain in 2011. Spanish law requires individuals to spend at least 183 days in the country to be considered a resident for personal income tax purposes.

Following this court ruling, the 49-year-old Shakira said that the court had finally brought the truth to light. She mentioned that she had endured cruel public targeting, campaigns designed to destroy her reputation, and sleepless nights for the past eight years, which ultimately affected her health and the well-being of her family.

The amount the tax office has to return includes approximately 24 million euros in income tax and a fine of nearly 25 million euros imposed by the authorities for 'very serious' violations. The tax agency, however, has stated that it will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court and will not make any payments until a final verdict is reached.

Shakira, the singer of hit songs like 'Hips Don't Lie' and 'Whenever, Wherever', lived with former Barcelona and Spain footballer Gerard Piqué for over a decade after meeting him during the shooting of the official music video for the 2010 World Cup song 'Waka Waka' in South Africa.

The High Court stated that the tax office's assumption that Spain was her tax residence for the 2011 financial year was based on speculation that could not be proven. According to the court, the singer spent only 163 days in Spain during that financial year, which is 20 days short of the minimum limit to be considered a resident for tax purposes. The years following 2011 are not included in this case.

This is one of several cases pursued by the Spanish tax agency against Shakira. Previously, in 2023, just as a trial was about to begin, she agreed to settle another tax fraud case covering the period from 2012 to 2014 with Spanish public prosecutors.

Despite claiming she had done nothing wrong, under that settlement, Shakira pleaded guilty to six charges and paid a fine of 7.5 million euros. If convicted, prosecutors had sought an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of 23.8 million euros. At the time, she stated that she settled the case with her children's best interests in mind.

Similarly, in 2024, a Spanish court closed an investigation into her tax payments for 2018 due to a lack of sufficient evidence. This latest ruling comes at a time when Shakira is preparing to conclude her 'Women Don't Cry Anymore' world tour in Madrid starting in September.

According to an announcement made public just last week, she will perform alongside Madonna and BTS in the half-time show of the FIFA Men's World Cup final taking place this summer.

At the beginning of this month, Shakira's free concert on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro was attended by 2 million people.