Shakira wins against the tax authorities: they refund her 60 million

The Audiencia Nacional has put an end to an eight-year legal battle by taking the side of Shakira against the Spanish Tax Agency regarding the 2011 tax year. The court ruled that the Colombian singer – at the time linked to former Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué – did not have tax residence in Spain at that time. Consequently, the State will have to reimburse them approximately 60 million eurosa figure that also includes interest and legal costs.

The news was made known by the law firm led by José Luis Prada, which assists the artist (this year involved in the halftime show of the football World Cup). The judges took a rather unusual decision for the Iberian judicial system: to pass the court costs on to the public administration, a measure that mirrors cases in which the tax authorities’ action proves to be completely unfounded or “reckless”. In any case, the verdict is not yet final and the exchequer has 30 days to challenge it before the Supreme Court.

In reasons for the sentence several key points are highlighted that dismantled the prosecution’s thesis: in 2011 the artist was in the midst of a world tour of 120 concerts in 37 countries; in that year Shakira had neither real estate, nor children, nor corporate bases in Spanish territory; the administration was unable to demonstrate that the pop star had spent the minimum number of days (183) required by law to trigger tax residency in the country; the magistrates rejected the criterion of “sporadic absences”, confirming that the fulcrum of the singer’s economic activities and entrepreneurial structure were permanently located abroad.

Through a communicated released by her legal team, Shakira expressed great satisfaction, reserving very harsh words towards the tax body:

In reality there was never any fraud, and the administration itself was never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true. I have been treated as guilty for almost ten years; the IRS orchestrated leaks and distorted every step of the process for the sole purpose of sending a threatening message to all other taxpayers.

The artist then added that “justice has finally put things in their place”, hoping that this decision can act as a shield for thousands of ordinary citizens who find themselves dealing with a system that tends to presume the guilt of the taxpayer.

This favorable provision does not change the criminal sentence which covered the three-year period 2012-2014. That specific matter had previously ended with a plea bargain, through which Shakira had recognized her tax residence in Spain for those years, accepting a fine of 7.3 million euros and a (suspended) three-year prison sentence.