The singer is accused of not paying $15.8 million in tax in Spain between 2012 and 2014. She appeared before the court on Monday, where she said ‘yes’ to confirm her acknowledgment of six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros (about $15.8 million) in taxes, the agency reported.
Pop star Shakira reached a deal with Spanish authorities on the first day of a tax fraud trial in Barcelona, avoiding the risk of a prison sentence, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
The singer is accused of not paying $15.8 million in tax in Spain between 2012 and 2014. She appeared before the court on Monday, where she said ‘yes’ to confirm her acknowledgment of six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government 14.5 million euros (about $15.8 million) in taxes, the agency reported.
Under the deal, Shakira, who is famous for her songs ‘Waka Waka’ and ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, is to receive a suspended three-year sentence and a fine of $7.6 million.
In July this year, the prosecutors said they would seek a prison sentence of eight years and two months and a fine of 24 million euros ($26 million) for the singer. The trial was to commence today but was called off after the singer reached a settlement.
“This has been a difficult decision that took time to reach, a tough decision that is motivated by her desire to focus on raising her children and her professional career,” defense lawyer Miriam Company was quoted as saying by AP. “Her legal team had prepared the trial and were convinced we could demonstrate her innocence, but the circumstances changed and (Shakira) opted to accept the deal.”
Shakira claims that she was a resident in the Bahamas between the start of 2012 and the end of 2014 and that she should not have been considered a Spanish resident for tax purposes. However, the Spanish authority reportedly said the artist, real name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, lived in Spain “on a regular basis” during the tax years 2012 to 2014.
UK’s The Sun reported that the singer stayed in Spain first at former Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique’s flat and then at a mansion she bought with her former partner in Esplugues de Llobregat near the Catalan capital through an investment firm.
The prosecutors claimed that her absences from Spain for work and other reasons were “sporadic”. “The accused spent 242 days in Spain in 2012, 212 days in 2013, and 243 days in 2014 and she was out of this country, to fulfill her professional commitments and for leisure, 124 days in 2012; 153 days in 2013, and 122 days in 2014,” the authority said.
In Spain, people who spend more than 183 days are liable to declare their worldwide earnings and pay tax. The prosecutors claimed that Shakira, knowing she lived on a regular basis in Spain, decided to use an existing offshore corporate framework to hide her worldwide earnings and evade income and wealth tax payments, The Sun reported.
