Shakira awarded $140m payout after being acquitted of Spanish tax fraud

Shakira is expecting a massive payday after being cleared of fraud charges in a case that has gone on for almost five years. Photo / Getty Images

Shakira has been acquitted of tax fraud and will receive around $140m from the Spanish government after a legal battle lasting nearly five years.

The Madrid-based Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s high court, said tax authorities had failed to prove that the Colombian singer, 49, had been in the country for sufficient time in 2011 to be classified as a tax resident and were ordered to pay her €55m plus €5m in interest – the equivalent of $137m.

Spanish law dictates that an individual must spend more than 183 days in Spain in a year to be liable for tax. For 2011 the country’s tax agency was only able to prove that Shakira – who was in a relationship with Barcelona football player Gerard Pique – had lived in Spain for 163 days, the court said.

The ruling said: “Tax authorities had therefore failed to prove that the singer had the centre of her economic interests in Spain.”

The singer welcomed the decision that had “finally set the record straight” after years of “brutal public exposure, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately affected my health and my family’s wellbeing”.

Shakira said in a statement: “Every step of the process was leaked, distorted and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to other taxpayers. Today, that narrative falls apart.

“My greatest hope is that this ruling sets a precedent for the tax agency and helps the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt.”

The court said the tax agency must return all amounts paid, plus interest, effectively cancelling multimillion-euro penalties and tax adjustments that had classified Shakira as a Spanish tax resident for that year.

Overall, the figure exceeds €55m, including around a €24m rebate in income tax, and nearly €25m in fines issued, which the court described as a “very serious” infringement.

Spain’s tax office reviewed hundreds of social media posts to gather evidence that she had been in Spain for more than 183 days per year in 2011.

Its lawyers summoned dozens of witnesses, including her hairdresser and neighbours to support their case against the singer.

Shakira previously compared the tax office investigation into her affairs to an “Inquisition trial”, stating in a letter published in 2024 that the tax agency was more focused on “burning her in public” than listening to her arguments.

The dispute is one of several involving the singer, including a separate settlement in 2018 related to alleged irregularities in her filings. She has maintained that she established her permanent residence in Barcelona at the end of 2014, before transferring her tax residency from the Bahamas to Spain in 2015.

Spanish tax authorities have previously argued that Shakira lived in Spain for more than half the year between 2012 and 2014, making her liable for taxes during that period. The case was settled with prosecutors to avoid trial in 2023.

Shakira paid a €7.5m ($17m) fine in 2023. Prosecutors had argued for a jail sentence of eight years if she were found guilty. The settlement concluded the Barcelona court case, which centred on allegations that she had evaded taxes.

After beginning a relationship with Pique in 2010, Shakira moved to Spain and settled with him in Barcelona. The couple, who had two children together, announced their separation in June 2022 in a joint statement. In December 2025, they began speaking directly to each other again after three years of communicating only through intermediaries.

- The Telegraph

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