In brief
The Spanish high court has ordered the tax authority to refund Shakira approximately £50 million after ruling the money was improperly collected. The decision came after it was confirmed that she did not meet the residency requirement for being taxed in Spain in 2011. Shakira expressed relief following the ruling, which she believes vindicates her after years of unwarranted scrutiny.
A Spanish court has ordered the country's tax authority to refund €55m (£48m, $64m) to singer Shakira after ruling that the money was improperly collected in a dispute over her taxes. The national high court has acquitted the Colombian singer of tax fraud and ordered the Treasury to repay the money plus interest to her. It said tax authorities had failed to prove she spent 183 days in Spain in 2011 - the minimum required for residents to pay personal income tax there. Shakira said the court had 'finally set the record straight' after she had spent eight years 'enduring brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family's well-being'. The repayment includes about €24m (£21m) in income tax and almost €25m (£22m) in fines for what authorities had described as a 'very serious' infringement. The tax agency said it would appeal to the Supreme Court and that no payment would be made until the final ruling. The 49-year-old star lived with former Barcelona and Spain footballer Gerard Pique for more than a decade after reportedly meeting in 2010 while filming the music video for Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), the official song of the World Cup in South Africa. The High Court said the fines were unlawful because they relied on the assumption that Spain was her tax residence for the 2011 fiscal year, 'a fact which has not been proven'. The court said the singer spent 163 days in Spain in that financial year - 20 days short of the threshold for her to be classed as a resident for tax purposes. The case does not involve the tax years after 2011 and was one of several cases involving Shakira to have been brought by Spain's tax agency. In 2023, she reached a deal with Spanish prosecutors to settle a separate tax fraud case covering the years 2012-2014, just as she was set to go on trial. The deal meant Shakira, who denied any wrongdoing, accepted six charges and paid a €7.5m (£6.5m) fine. Prosecutors had wanted to jail her for eight years and fine her €23.8m (£20.8m) if she was found guilty. She stated she settled the case 'with the best interest of my kids at heart'. In 2024, a Spanish court reportedly dropped an investigation into her tax payments for 2018 due to 'a lack of evidence'. The latest ruling comes as Shakira is set to wrap up her Women Don't Cry Anymore world tour with a residency in Madrid from September. She will also perform alongside Madonna and BTS during the half-time show at this summer's Fifa Men's World Cup final, it was announced last week. Earlier this month, two million people attended a free Shakira concert on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.
