Shakira tax win set to face Supreme Court appeal in Spain
Shakira’s battle with Spain’s tax authorities will go to the country’s highest court after authorities challenged an earlier ruling that wiped out 55 million euros ($64 million) in claims against the singer.
Administrative Matters
Government lawyers filed the case to the Supreme Court on behalf of the tax authority, saying that the lower court erred in ruling that the pop singer was not a Spanish tax resident in 2011, as a spokesman for the authority told Bloomberg News.
Under Spanish law, a person is generally considered a tax resident if they spend more than 183 days in the country in a calendar year or if Spain is their main center of economic interests. In the case of the Colombian singer, the National Court found in April
The tax authorities argued that, despite its international structure, it had already established its domicile in Spain. They pointed to her stay in Barcelona, her relationship with soccer player Gerard Piqué and asked to count the time spent abroad as “temporary absence.”
Shakira’s spokesperson declined to comment on the appeal, and referred to the singer’s statement on May 18, where she celebrated the powerful and historic verdict, saying “there was never any cheating.”
Shakira’s lawyers argued that she has been a permanent resident of the Bahamas since 2007, based in part on her 2016 Bahamas residency certificate.
The singer settled a separate case in 2023 and pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud in 2012, 2013 and 2014, where he was sentenced to three years in prison and agreed to pay a fine of more than 7 million euros.
In the previous case, the National Court ruled that the evidence did not prove residency, and that Shakira’s departure should not be considered as an occasional absence because she spent a year outside of Spain.
