The singer Shakira was accused to fail to pay multiple millions of income tax in Spain. Now Shakira had to go to court to face a fine for the tax fraud. She went to court last minute to avoid the risk of going to prison.
Shakira pays more than $7 million for tax fraud
On Monday November 20, 2023 she acknowledged all obligations of six counts of failing to pay the Spanish government. Over all she failed to pay an amount of 14.5 million euros (about $15.8 million) in taxes between the years 2012 and 2014. The trail was expected to include several witnesses but instead the singer just accepted the obligations and the case ended after 8 minutes. She is fined to pay 7.3 million euros ($8 million) in addition to the previously unpaid taxed and interest. She received a suspended three-year sentence and had to pay an additional fine of 432.000 euros ($472.000) because she had her prison sentence waived.
The tax evasions of the Spanish singer and other stars
In a separate investigation, state prosecutors charged the Columbian singer of evading 6.7 million euros in tax in 2018. She was accused to use an offshore company to avoid paying taxes in Spain.
The reason Shakira pledged guilty to tax fraud now is that in Spain, an investigative judge decides if a case is thrown out or send to trail. A court then can waive prison for first-time offenders if they are sentenced to less than two years. Since it was the case now and Shakira wanted to avoid prison, she agreed to pay back the tax including the fines.
“I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight,” she said. “I need to move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years and focus on the things I love, my kids and all the opportunities to come in my career.”
Shakira
Over the past decade Spain has cracked down on celebrates in the past. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for example have not paid their full tax and found guilty. They both avoided prison though after their sentences were suspended. Messi avoided paying over 4 million and Ronaldo over 14 million euros. Ronaldo has agreed to pay a fine of 18.8 million euros to the Spanish authorities though.
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