Shakira scored a major legal victory in Spain after the National Court acquitted her of tax fraud in a case dating back to 2011 and ordered tax authorities to return €55 million, about $64 million, to her plus interest.
The court ruled that the Colombian singer was not a tax resident in Spain that year, as she spent no more than 163 days in the country, while Spanish law requires more than 183 days for a person to be considered a tax resident.
Details
• The court did not find that tax authorities had proven Shakira’s center of economic interests was in Spain in 2011.
• The court also said the family ties needed to establish tax residency were not present that year, as Shakira was not married to a Spanish resident and her children were not living in the country.
• The case later became tied to her residence in Barcelona with her former partner, footballer Gerard Piqué, after authorities said she bought a home there in 2012 that became a main residence for her, Piqué, and their son.
• Shakira and Piqué announced their separation in 2022, after a long relationship that made her life in Spain a major focus of media and public attention.
• Shakira said in a statement that the ruling ends her fight with Spanish tax authorities, noting that she has moved to Miami.
• The singer said she had been used to send a warning message to other taxpayers and that she had been treated as guilty for nearly a decade before that narrative collapsed today.
• The new ruling applies only to 2011 and does not cancel a separate settlement Shakira reached in November 2023 over accusations covering 2012 to 2014.
• In that settlement, Shakira accepted a three-year suspended sentence and paid a €7 million fine, while continuing to deny the accusations.
What’s next?
The ruling reframes Shakira’s battle with Spain: it was not just a tax dispute over numbers, but a legal test of her personal life between travel and work, her residence in Barcelona, her relationship with Piqué, then the separation and her move to Miami.
