AMP in the post
In a recent interview which the singer had with Elle Magazine, Shakira made it known that she has her reasons for standing up to the Spanish for claiming that she was evading her taxes, “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.”
Before we get into more details concerning this, let me quickly explain how this whole tax issue thingy came to be.
Shakira — What Exactly Happened?
Four years ago in the year 2018, Shakira was charged with tax invasion between the year 2012 and 2014, according to prosecutors Shakira was living in Spain during that period of two years but she claimed she was living abroad. Shakira claimed that between the years 2012 and 2014 she was living in a different country and was away doing her musical works, Shakira also claimed that her visits to Spain were for official purposes. This tax evasion case was centered on the fact that Shakira lived in Spain for two years and normally, people who live in Spain for up to six months are considered residents and they can begin tax payments.
In the year 2015, Shakira officially made Spain her place of residence. It’s said that Shakira is owing €14.5m but her legal team claims she has paid off all tax debts which she was accused of evading in 2018, Shakira’s team claim that the singer paid over €17m due to accumulated interest that topped the dues.
AMP in the post
In July, when the matter was made public, the Barcelona Public Prosecutors’ Office sat with Shakira to reach an agreement so that she would avoid trial but Shakira refused to reach an agreement with the prosecutors. Reps of the Waka Waka singer said in a statement that Shakira is very sure she has offset her tax debts and is “fully confident of her innocence” they also explained how Shakira saw the whole thing, that she feels it’s a “violation of her rights”.
Shakira — Shakira’s Reason For Fighting The Tax Fraud Case
During her interview, Shakira revealed that she chose to fight this tax evasion issue because it was a “matter of principle” and “Because I have to fight for what I believe; because these are false accusations.” Shakira went on to say that she has solid evidence that points out that she never skipped tax and that while she was dating her ex-boyfriend Gerald who happens to be a Spanish citizen, she was rarely in the country. “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.”
Shakira also said that she’s confident that justice will prevail and that there’s a chance that her prosecutors have no evidence against her but it’s a way to extort money from her just as they did to other celebrities, when they find out that you’re not buying their crap, they resort to use the media and make comments that damage your reputation. She also said she’s not the only victim, and neither are other celebrities but regular taxpayers are also victims of this.
AMP in the post
“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.”
Shakira, if found guilty, will face 8 years in prison.
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