Shakira wins £50m tax refund from Spanish government

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A Spanish court has ordered the country's tax authority to refund €55m (£48m, $64m) to singer Shakira after ruling that the money was improperly collected in a dispute over her taxes.

The national high court has acquitted the Colombian singer of tax fraud and ordered the Treasury to repay the money plus interest to her.

It said tax authorities had failed to prove she spent 183 days in Spain in 2011 - the minimum required for residents to pay personal income tax there.

Shakira said the court had "finally set the record straight" after she had 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".

The 49-year-old star, who is known for hits like Hips Don't Lie and Wherever, Whenever, added: "There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn't true.

"Yet, for nearly a decade, I was treated as guilty. Every step of the process was leaked, distorted, and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to the rest of the taxpayers.

"Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling."

The repayment includes about €24m (£21m) in income tax and almost €25m (£22m) in fines for what authorities had described as a "very serious" infringement.

The tax agency said it would appeal to the Supreme Court and that no payment would be made until the final ruling.

Shakira lived with former Barcelona and Spain footballer Gerard Pique for more than a decade after reportedly meeting in 2010 while filming the music video for Waka Waka, the official song of the World Cup in South Africa.

The High Court said the fines were unlawful because they relied on the assumption that Spain was her tax residence for the 2011 fiscal year, "a fact which has not been proven".

The court said the singer spent 163 days in Spain in that financial year - 20 days short of the threshold for her to be classed as a resident for tax purposes.

The case does not involve the tax years after 2011.

It was one of several cases involving Shakira to have been brought by Spain's tax agency.

In 2023, she reached a deal with Spanish prosecutors to settle a separate tax fraud case covering the years 2012-2014, just as she was set to go on trial.

The deal meant Shakira, who denied any wrongdoing, accepted six charges and paid a €7.5m (£6.5m) fine.

Prosecutors had wanted to jail her for eight years and fine her €23.8m (£20.8m) if she was found guilty. She said she settled the case "with the best interest of my kids at heart".

And in 2024, a Spanish court reportedly dropped an investigation into her tax payments for 2018 because of "a lack of evidence".

The latest ruling comes as Shakira is set to wrap up her Women Don't Cry Anymore world tour with a residency in Madrid from September.

She will also perform alongside Madonna and BTS during the half-time show at this summer's Fifa Men's World Cup final, it was announced last week.

Earlier this month, two million people attended a free Shakira concert on the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.