[Spain] Pop star Shakira charged with tax evasion for second time

In Spain, prosecutors have charged pop star Shakira with failing to pay 6.7 million euros in tax on her 2018 income, in the latest financial allegations against the Colombian singer, WOKV reports.

Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a September 26 statement.

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

Shakira is also reportedly due to be tried in Barcelona on November 20 in a separate case centred around where she lived between 2012-14. In that case, prosecutors allege that she failed to pay 14.5 million euros in tax.

Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged that she spent more than half of the 2012-14 period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country, despite her official residence being in the Bahamas.

Spanish tax officials reportedly opened the latest case against Shakira in July 2022. After reviewing the evidence gathered over the last two months, prosecutors have decided to bring charges. No date for a trial was set.

Llorente y Cuenca - the PR firm that has previously handled Shakira’s affairs - has yet to comment.

Last July, it said the Grammy-winning singer had “always acted in concordance with the law and on the advice of her financial advisers.”

Shakira - full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll - has had connections to Spain since her relationship with the now-retired soccer player Gerard Pique. The couple lived together in Barcelona until last year when their relationship ended. Tax authorities in the country have been cracking down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past decade for failing to pay their full due in taxes. 

The players were reportedly found guilty of tax evasion yet avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.

Source: WOKV

(Links and quote via original reporting) 

In Spain, prosecutors have charged pop star Shakira with failing to pay 6.7 million euros in tax on her 2018 income, in the latest financial allegations against the Colombian singer, WOKV reports.

Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a September 26 statement.

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

Shakira is also reportedly due to be tried in Barcelona on November 20 in a separate case centred around where she lived between 2012-14. In that case, prosecutors allege that she failed to pay 14.5 million euros in tax.

Prosecutors in Barcelona have alleged that she spent more than half of the 2012-14 period in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes in the country, despite her official residence being in the Bahamas.

Spanish tax officials reportedly opened the latest case against Shakira in July 2022. After reviewing the evidence gathered over the last two months, prosecutors have decided to bring charges. No date for a trial was set.

Llorente y Cuenca - the PR firm that has previously handled Shakira’s affairs - has yet to comment.

Last July, it said the Grammy-winning singer had “always acted in concordance with the law and on the advice of her financial advisers.”

Shakira - full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll - has had connections to Spain since her relationship with the now-retired soccer player Gerard Pique. The couple lived together in Barcelona until last year when their relationship ended. Tax authorities in the country have been cracking down on soccer stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past decade for failing to pay their full due in taxes. 

The players were reportedly found guilty of tax evasion yet avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.

Source: WOKV

(Links and quote via original reporting)