Colombian singer Shakira could face up to eight years and two months in jail after she rejected a plea deal on accusations of six tax frauds.
The international pop star failed to pay the Spanish tax office 14.5 million for income earned between 2012 and 2014, said Barcelona prosecutors in 2018.
On 29 July, the prosecutors fined Shakira €24 million but earlier this week she opted to go on trial instead of accepting the plea deal. The date for this has yet to be set by the Spanish court.
In a statement, the singer said that she is “fully confident of her innocence” and called the case against her a “complete violation of her rights.”
The allegation is that Shakira spent more than half of both 2012 and 2014 in Spain. A person who resides in the country for over six months is already considered a resident, the tax law in Spain states. Hence, taxes must be paid.
“Isabel Mebarak Ripoll stopped paying taxes in Spain during the years 2012, 2013 and 2014, despite having an obligation to do so because she has her tax residence here,” Spanish judge Judge Marco Jesus Juberias said.
However, despite Shakira’s claims that she did not live most of those years in Spain, documents Reuters viewed indicate that she purchased a house in Barcelona in May 2012.
Shakira further said that she had already paid her due amounting €17.2 million to the Spanish government.
In 2019, Gerard Piqué, Shakira’s ex-husband and the father of her two children, faced a fine of €2 million for evading taxes between 2008 and 2010.