Shakira Appears In Spanish Court For Tax Fraud Case

Colombian singer Shakira has appeared in a Spanish court to testify over allegations that she avoided paying 14.5 million euros ($16.4 million) of taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014, when she lived mostly in the country. Shakira’s public relations firm says that the Colombian pop musician has denied any wrong doing when she testified before a judge.

Prosecutors have accused her of tax evasion in December last year, and argue that she avoided taxes by claiming to live in the Bahamas when she was a resident in Catalonia, Spain.

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In 2015, Shakira had changed her residence from the Bahamas to Spain, where she resides with her partner, the Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique, and their two sons. However, prosecutors allege that she was already living in the Catalan capital between 2012 and 2014, and she should have paid tax in Spain for those years.

The 42-year-old said she was up-to-date with her taxes, and has given her full cooperation to the investigation and has no outstanding debts with the tax authorities.

In a statement released on Thursday morning, Shakira’s PR company said that she had appeared in court to “help clarify the facts over her tax situation in Spain.” It said that the singer had always met her tax obligations in every country where she worked and did not owe money to Spain.

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In February, the Catalan newspaper El Periodico, reported that the singer had paid the Spanish tax authorities 14.5 million euros to settle the debt.

Although there were no more payments to be made, it continued, the only remaining matter for discussion was the interpretation of rules over when Shakira began to be liable to pay taxes as a resident in Spain.