Colombian singer Shakira has won a legal battle against Spain’s tax authority after a court ordered the government to refund €55m wrongly collected in a tax dispute.
Spain’s National High Court ruled that tax officials failed to prove the singer spent enough time in the country in 2011 to qualify as a tax resident. Under Spanish law, a person must stay at least 183 days in the country in a year before personal income tax rules apply. The court said Shakira spent 163 days in Spain that year.
The ruling clears the singer of tax fraud allegations linked to the 2011 financial year. The court also ordered the Treasury to return the money with interest.
The refund includes about €24m in income tax payments and nearly €25m in penalties that authorities had imposed over what they described as a “very serious” tax offence.
In a statement, Shakira said the ruling had “finally set the record straight” after years of public scrutiny.
She said she 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”.
Spain’s tax agency said it plans to challenge the decision at the Supreme Court and added that no payment would be made until the appeal process ends.
The case is one of several tax investigations involving the singer, who lived in Spain during her relationship with former footballer Gerard Pique.
In 2023, Shakira settled another tax case linked to the years between 2012 and 2014. The agreement allowed her to avoid trial after she accepted six charges and paid a €7.5m fine, while still denying wrongdoing.
Prosecutors in that case had sought a prison sentence and a larger financial penalty if she had been convicted.
A separate investigation into her 2018 tax payments was later dropped by a Spanish court because of what reports described as a lack of evidence.
The latest ruling comes as Shakira prepares to conclude her “Women Don’t Cry Anymore” world tour with shows in Madrid later this year.
Ademide Adebayo
