Shakira’s lawyers slammed Spanish prosecutors after the star found out about a new tax fraud case against her ‘through the media’ and insisted she has ‘always acted within the law’.
The 46-year-old is facing a tax fraud investigation in Spain, a court said today, with his legal team saying he has so far received ‘no formal notification’ of his 2018 tax probe.
The ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ singer is already due to stand trial on separate charges later in the year, another case relating to 14.5 million euros (£12.5 million) in back taxes between 2012 and 2014.
If the new investigation is based on similar earnings, he faces another potential multi-million pound tax case.
In the 2012-2014 case, prosecutors are seeking eight years in prison for the Colombian star, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Maybarak.
Shakira, who has been romantically linked to F1 driver Lewis Hamilton in recent weeks, has denied any wrongdoing and insisted she will fight the charges against her in court rather than seek a last-minute deal with Spanish state prosecutors.
Shakira (pictured at Wimbledon this year) is facing an investigation into alleged income and value added tax fraud in 2018
There has been no official comment from the mother of two who was recently photographed watching Carlos Alcaraz play in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The new investigation will be conducted by a judge at a court in the Esplugues de Llobregat, which opened the previous investigation that ordered the artist to stand trial.
Shakira’s legal advisers said in a statement this afternoon: ‘Shakira has not received any official notification of the prosecutor’s complaint which, according to the media, was filed for the 2018 fiscal year.
‘Once again, as has been the case for the past several years, the singer learned of the lawsuit through the media, proving that she is under public and reputational pressure.
‘The singer’s legal team will not comment until notification is reached through official and legally established channels.
‘As it is publicly known, and the Spanish Treasury was officially notified, Shakira is now living in Miami, so strictly according to the provisions of the law she should be personally notified of her new address.
‘As she has already confirmed many times, Shakira is always in favor of acting according to the law and with the advice of the best tax experts.
‘He is now focused on his life as an artist in Miami and is confident that there will be a favorable resolution to his tax issues.’
Officials today confirmed the report of the new investigation, which will put Shakira back under the spotlight.
A spokesperson for the High Court of Justice of Catalonia said: ‘The Court of Instruction No. 2 of Esplugues de Llobregat opened a process following the complaint presented by prosecutors against the singer Shakira for two suspected tax offenses related to income tax and wealth tax for Spanish taxes. Year 2018.’
There has been no official comment yet from the mother-of-two, who was recently pictured watching Carlos Alcaraz play in the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
The prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new case.
Before leaving Barcelona for Miami in early April, Shakira launched a stinging attack on Spanish tax authorities after facing trial for alleged crimes committed between 2012 and 2014.
He claimed he was being persecuted and accused the Spanish Treasury of ‘using unacceptable methods to destroy his reputation and force him to come to a settlement agreement’.
He insisted he had no intention of taking a last-minute plea deal and would go to trial.
A spokesperson for the artist also made it clear that he felt the country’s tax authorities were accusing him of lying about being outside of Spain ‘without proof’ and that he had been charged with tax fraud.
Shakira, formerly a tax resident in the Bahamas, only registered as a full-time tax resident in Spain in 2015 despite dating her ex Gerard Pique five years ago
Shakira, formerly a tax resident of the Bahamas, registered as a full-time tax resident of Spain in 2015 despite dating her ex Gerard Pique five years earlier.
Those who spend more than 183 days in a given calendar year in Spain are considered Spanish residents for tax purposes.
Spanish tax inspectors spent more than a year scrutinizing Shakira, even visiting her favorite hairdressers in Barcelona and checking her social media to show she had spent most of three years in Spain in conflict.
They concluded that he spent 242 days in Spain in 2012, 212 days in 2013 and 243 days in the country in 2014 and charged him with six counts of tax fraud for those three years.
A statement released last November by Shakira’s Barcelona-based publicist LLYC and approved by Shakira said: ‘Shakira is a taxpayer who has always shown impeccable tax behavior and has never had tax problems in any other jurisdiction.
‘Singer relied on top advisers such as PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has not exceeded the 183 days of presence in Spain which must be a tax resident.
‘With no solid evidence to support the charges against him, he has been severely victimized by the criminal and the media, using unacceptable methods to tarnish his reputation and force him to enter into a settlement agreement.’
Shakira’s tax trial is scheduled to begin on November 20, which will be held in 12 sessions.
The last day of open court is December 14, as the court will not sit for some days.
Spain’s wealth tax is an annual tax payable on the total net value of your assets as of 31 December. Tax Residents of Spain pay tax on their worldwide wealth.
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