Shakira accused of €5.8m tax fraud when she lived in Catalonia in 2018

The public prosecutor has accused the Colombian artist Shakira of tax fraud amounting to around €5.8m in personal income tax (IRPF) and wealth tax in 2018 when the singer lived in Catalonia. 

Shakira is accused of faking that she lived outside of Spain when she lived in Esplugues de Llobregat, near Barcelona, with former FC Barcelona football player Gerard Piqué.

The public prosecutor had already asked for eight years of prison for Shakira for allegedly defrauding the Spanish treasury office of €14.5m from 2012 to 2014.   

According to the prosecutor, in 2018 the singer lived in Catalonia, which meant she had to pay personal income tax on all her income, wherever it was generated, and for all her wealth, no matter where it was located. 

In order to reduce the amount of taxes she had to pay, Shakira allegedly created a "corporate framework."

Around 20 companies were created to hide Shakira's earnings, located in the Netherlands, Malta, the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Luxembourg, the Bahamas, and Liechtenstein, as well as Spain and the US. 

According to the prosecutor's claim, these businesses did not have any formal activity apart from managing Shakira's wealth. Furthermore, the singer did not have any relationship with most of those countries apart from the creation of those businesses.

The claim also lists the €48m in earnings from her musical and publicity activities, as well as the expenses that were duplicated or that should not have been deducted that amount to €21.3m and not €28.4m as the singer declared. 

Spain's tax office considers that Shakira should have paid €5.3m more in personal income tax in 2018, and has asked for €6m including interest. 

When it comes to wealth taxes, Shakira had €971,000 in Spanish bank accounts and €3.7m in foreign bank accounts as of December 31, 2018, which amounts to €4.6m. For her financial assets, Shakira declared €135m, and Spain's tax office considers it should be €147m. Therefore, they argue, Shakira should have paid €773,000, some €547,000 more than the €226,000 she paid in wealth taxes. The Catalan government is therefore claiming €625,000, including interest. 

The prosecutor's claim is also directed against anyone who helped Shakira to perpetrate the crime or to cover it up. The prosecutor asked the singer to testify from Miami, where she now resides.

The singer and her legal team maintain that she has always acted according to the law and "following the advice of the best fiscal experts."