Spain charges Colombian pop singer Shakira with tax evasion for second time, demands US$7.1 million

Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying US$7.1 million in tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a statement

Spain tax authorities have over the past decade cracked down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes

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Spanish authorities claim that Colombian singer Shakira owes more than US$7 million in taxes.
Photo: AP

Published: 8:20pm, 26 Sep 2023

Spanish prosecutors have charged pop star Shakira with failing to pay 6.7 million euros (US$7.1 million) in tax on her 2018 income, authorities said on Tuesday, in Spain’s latest fiscal allegations against the Colombian singer.

Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a statement.

She has been notified of the charges in Miami, where she lives, according to the statement.

Shakira arrives at court in Madrid in March 2019. Photo: AP

Shakira is already due to be tried in Barcelona on November 20 in a separate case that hinges on where she lived between 2012-14. In that case, prosecutors allege she failed to pay 14.5 million euros (US$15.4 million) in tax.

Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged the Grammy winner spent more than half of the 2012-14 period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country, even though her official residence was in the Bahamas.

Spanish tax officials opened the latest case against Shakira last July. After reviewing the evidence gathered over the last two months, prosecutors have decided to bring charges. No date for a trial was set.

The public relations firm that previously has handled Shakira’s affairs, Llorente y Cuenca, made no immediate comment.