Shakira secures €60 million victory in long‑running dispute with Spain’s Tax Agency
The National Court has ruled that the singer was not a tax resident in Spain in 2011 and has annulled the penalties imposed on her; the decision does not affect her existing criminal conviction
Shakira has won the last remaining battle she was fighting with Spain’s tax authorities, which must now return more than €60 million ($69 million) in penalties that, according to the courts, were imposed on her improperly. The administrative chamber of Spain’s National Court has ruled in favor of the Colombian singer and annulled the case that forced her to pay nearly €55 million ($64 million) in back taxes and fines; those amounts must now be refunded with interest, which judicial sources say totals €9 million ($10.5 million). The ruling finds that Shakira should not have been considered a tax resident in Spain in 2011. The decision does not affect the criminal case for which she has already been convicted — in a final judgment — for tax evasion in later years, from 2012 to 2014.
The artist celebrated the victory and again criticized Spain’s Tax Agency in a triumphalist press statement that omits the criminal conviction she herself accepted: “There was never any fraud, and the authorities were never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true,” she said of the ruling, which focuses solely on her circumstances in 2011, after the success of Waka Waka (the World Cup anthem where she met then‑Barça footballer Gerard Piqué) and following her Sale el Sol world tour.
Shakira — who accepted a three‑year prison sentence for tax fraud for the 2012–2014 period, admitted she should have paid taxes in Spain, and agreed to a €7.3 million ($8.5 million) fine — presented herself in the statement as a victim: “After more than eight years of enduring brutal public shaming, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and countless sleepless nights that ultimately affected my health and the well-being of my family, the National Court has finally set things right.”
Although she accepted the prison sentence partly to avoid going to trial, Shakira has never stopped criticizing the behavior of Spain’s tax authorities in her case: “I have been treated as if I were guilty […] and my name and public image have been used to send a threatening message to other taxpayers.” She added: “My greatest hope is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Tax Agency and helps the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt.”
Tax inspectors concluded that Shakira should already have been considered a tax resident in Spain in 2011. They issued assessments that required her to pay €24.7 million ($28.7 million) for failing to declare personal income tax — including €19.9 million ($23.2 million) in tax owed and €4.7 million ($5.5 million) in interest — and another €2.6 million ($3 million) for failing to pay wealth tax. Those assessments then triggered penalty proceedings for a “very serious infringement,” imposing fines of 125% of the underpaid tax in each category. In total, between assessments and penalties, the amounts reached €54.7 million ($63.6 million). That 2011 tax year —one of the most lucrative of Shakira’s career— was ultimately not included in the criminal complaint because the alleged offense had already expired under Spain’s statute of limitations.
163 days and a ‘relationship’
To be considered a tax resident in Spain, a person must spend more than 183 days in the country. The Tax Agency was only able to prove 163 days — combining documented days and so‑called “presumed” days — but insisted that the singer had a “romantic relationship” with Gerard Piqué, that Spain had become the center of her life, and that the Bahamas tax residency she claimed could not be substantiated.
Through her lawyer, José Luis Prada, Shakira challenged the administrative decision before the National Court, which has now ruled in her favor. The judgment finds that, even if she was in a relationship with the Barcelona footballer, in 2011, “there was no marital bond” and no “family nucleus,” since there were no “minor children.” Nor was it proven that Spain was the center of her economic activity; at that time — during her Sale el Sol tour — “she carried out most of her professional activity abroad.”
The court concluded that Shakira should not have paid Spanish tax on her worldwide income in 2011. As a result, “the assessments and penalties” imposed are “contrary to law.” The ruling — which is not final, as the Tax Agency will ask the State Attorney’s Office to appeal to the Supreme Court — annuls the administrative decisions and orders “the refund of the amounts” to the artist, meaning the €54.7 million plus interest.
According to judicial sources consulted by this newspaper, Shakira paid €27.3 million at the time, corresponding to the tax assessments (income tax and wealth tax). The penalties —set at 125% (calculated only on the underpaid tax, not on interest)— amount to another €27.4 million, but those were handled differently: Shakira provided a bank guarantee, which will now be canceled. On top of that, she is owed accumulated interest, which the same sources estimate at €9.2 million as of this week.
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