Shakira Denies New Accusation of Tax Fraud in Spain

Shakira, the renowned Colombian singer, denied a new accusation of tax fraud in Spain yesterday, February 8. Facing allegations of another tax violation dating back six years, she appeared via videoconference from Miami, United States, to address a judge in Barcelona, Spain. During the session, Shakira dismissed the prosecutor’s claim that she evaded paying €6 million ($6.4M) in taxes for the year 2018.

The Colombian singer has faced numerous tax fraud accusations over time. In the summer of 2023, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Tax Agency demanded a payment of €14.5 ($15.6M) million. To avoid the scrutiny of a public trial, Shakira later settled with prosecutors, agreeing to pay a €7.3 ($7.8M) million fine to the Spanish Treasury. This settlement was made to prevent imprisonment for tax fraud charges spanning from 2012 to 2014.

New trial for tax evasion

After closing the past trial, the singer now faces a new accusation from the Prosecutor’s Office. Specifically, she is accused of failing to pay €5.3 million for the income from her 2018 ‘El Dorado’ tour and the assignment of intellectual rights and another €773,600 for the twelve million euros she owns in real estate and financial assets.

According to the accusation, Shakira made use of a corporate framework and filed tax returns in which she omitted to declare income and deducted expenses that did not apply, thus managing to reduce the tax payable. In total, according to this information, the singer defrauded the Spanish tax authorities around €6 million, being paid through a company based in Luxembourg, with which she signed “similar contracts” and which “was merely an interposed company for tax purposes only” without any real activity.

The accusation cites 17 other tax-evasion companies that the Colombian artist allegedly used and that are said to be based in countries such as Malta, British Virgin Islands, the Netherlands, Panama, Bahamas, United States and Liechtenstein.

These irregular actions, according to the accusation, would have favored the artist’s income tax return, lowering the amount to be paid to the tax authorities.

Shakira denounces “pressure” from the Spanish tax authorities

On this occasion, however, Shakira denied the charges in a statement from Miami, where she currently resides, which lasted about thirty minutes. The artist from Barranquilla, in addition, denounced this new allegation as “one more step in the pressure” of the Spanish Treasury towards her.

According to her version, the €6 million that she is being accused of failing to pay were already deposited before she was notified of the complaint prior to the trial that is being held. In addition, she has denied that her intention was to deceive the Spanish Treasury and has stressed that she acted at all times following the instructions of her tax advisors.

To answer this new accusation, Shakira has once again relied on the renowned lawyer Pau Molins, the criminal lawyer who managed to reach an agreement with the judge minutes before the start of the trial for the fraud committed between 2012 and 2014.

With the statement via videoconference, Shakira avoided not only the trip to Barcelona but also the same scenario that occurred three months ago, when she entered the courts of the Catalan capital as a defendant.