Shakira has officially been acquitted of tax fraud, and is set to receive a massive pay-out following an “eight year ordeal.”
The pop icon will be reimbursed in full for a fine imposed in 2021, in addition to being paid a sum to cover interest totalling $97 million.
It was ruled that claims Shakira had spent more than 183 days in Spain in 2011 – the threshold for becoming a tax resident – could not be adequately proved by authorities.
Prosecutors charged the singer for not paying €14.5 million (approx. 23.5 million) in taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014, when she lived mostly in the country despite having an official residence in Panama.
In a statement released to TMZ, the Grammy-winning artist celebrated her win, insisting there was “never any fraud” involved.
“After more than eight years of enduring brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family’s wellbeing, the National High Court has finally set the record straight,” read the statement.
“This comes after an eight-year ordeal that has taken an unacceptable toll, reflecting a lack of rigour in administrative practice,” Shakira’s defence lawyer Jose Luis Prada added.
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However the tax agency is reportedly planning to appeal the decision with the Supreme Court.
Shakira will not receive the hefty pay out until after the final outcome of this appeal.
The singer’s eight-year legal battle first began in 2018, when she was indicted by Spanish prosecutors.
She was alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a statement at the time.
Although Shakira denied skipping out on 10s of millions of dollars in taxes between 2012 and 2014, she reached a $20 million settlement with “the best interest of [her] kids at heart.”
“I need them to know that I made the decisions I made to protect them, to be by their side and to get on with my life, not out of cowardice or guilt,” she wrote in an essay penned for Mundo in 2024.
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