Spanish Court Orders Tax Refund For Shakira In Major Legal Victory

Spanish court orders tax refund for Shakira in major legal victory

A Spanish court has ordered the country’s tax authority to refund more than €55m £48m to Colombian singer Shakira after ruling that the money had been improperly collected in a long-running dispute over her taxes. Spain’s National High Court found that tax officials failed to prove that Shakira was a Spanish tax resident in 2011, overturning penalties and payments imposed against her. The court said authorities could not demonstrate that she spent the required 183 days in Spain during that year the legal threshold for tax residency. According to the ruling, Shakira spent about 163 days in Spain in 2011 while carrying out an extensive international concert tour that included performances across dozens of countries. Judges also concluded that her main economic interests were not based in Spain at the time. The court ordered Spain’s tax agency to reimburse the singer for the penalties, taxes, interest and legal costs already paid, bringing the total repayment to more than €60m in some estimates. However, Spanish authorities are expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, meaning the refund may not be issued immediately. In a statement following the decision, Shakira said the ruling proved that “there was never any fraud” and criticised what she described as years of public scrutiny and reputational damage caused by the case. Her lawyer described the legal battle as an “eight-year ordeal The case relates only to the 2011 tax year and is separate from another high-profile investigation involving taxes from 2012 to 2014. In 2023, Shakira reached a settlement with Spanish prosecutors, agreeing to pay millions in fines to avoid a prison sentence while continuing to deny wrongdoing. The singer, one of the world’s best-known Latin music stars, moved to Miami with her children in 2023 after separating from former footballer Gerard Piqué.