Shakira Blames Spanish Government For Trying To Settle Tax Case By Force

Shakira, the global superstar, has encountered a difficult few months. She and soccer player Gerard Piqué separated in June after an eleven-year relationship and two children. A month later, it was revealed that she had reportedly failed to pay millions of dollars in taxes and risked up to eight years in jail for tax fraud. Shakira, on the other hand, has emerged stronger than ever.

As she prepares for a court battle over tax fraud allegations, Shakira accused the Spanish government of seeking to “coerce” a settlement out of her. Between 2012 and 2014, the “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was accused of failing to pay her taxes in Spain. Prosecutors demanded that Colombian-born Shakira serve an eight-year prison sentence and pay a multi-million dollar fine.

Spanish officials claim Shakira owes 14.5 million euros about $14.7 million in unpaid taxes. The actress has replied that she had a legal residency in the Bahamas throughout the years in question, which has no income tax. Prosecutors said that the singer was in Barcelona because of her romance with F.C. Barcelona soccer player Gerard Piqué, with whom she has two boys. In June, the couple announced their seperation.

While no trial date has been set and no specifics of the deal offered to Shakira have been revealed, the artist lashed out against Spanish authorities in an interview with Elle. Shakira said, “Because I have to fight for what I believe; because these are false accusations.”

First of all, I didn’t spend 183 days per year at that time at all. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world.

Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I owe zero to them. And finally, I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one.

However, even without evidence to support these fictional claims, as they usually do, they’ve resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements.

It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities do this often not only with celebrities like me (or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Xabi] Alonso, and many more), it also happens unjustly to the regular taxpayer. It’s just their style. But I’m confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favor.

The cross-over sensation revealed that spending six months in Spain would have been impossible due to her hectic schedule.

While Gerard and I were dating, I was on a world tour. I spent more than 240 days outside of Spain, so there was no way I qualified as a resident. The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what.

Even for the next few years, I was traveling the world, working nonstop while pregnant or with Milan as a baby, when my C-section had barely closed. They knew I wasn’t in Spain the required time, that Spain wasn’t my place of work or my source of income, but they still came after me, with their eyes on the prize.

Shakira’s spokesperson earlier stated that the singer will seek a full acquittal after rejecting a plea deal. Let’s see what happens. To get the latest updates, keep an eye on Thirsty.

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