Shakira is again facing tax charges in Spain after Barcelona prosecutors charged the singer with allegedly failing to pay $7.1 million in tax on her 2018 income. The Associated Press reported that the action announced on Tuesday (Sept. 26) is tied to allegations that Shakira (born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll), 46, used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying Spain’s income tax.
A statement from prosecutors noted that Shakira had been notified of the charges in Miami, where she lives.
The latest allegations add to fiscal issues the star is already facing in Barcelona, where she is due to be tried in a separate tax case beginning on Nov. 20, in which prosecutors allege that she failed to pay $15.4 million in taxes between 2012-2014. Prosecutors claim Shakira spent more than half her time in Spain during those years, even though her official residence was listed as the Bahamas.
At press time a spokesperson for Shakira had not responded to Billboard‘s request for comment on the latest charges.
The AP reported that Spanish tax officials opened the new tax case against Shakira in July and decided to bring the charges after reviewing the evidence gathered over the past two months. No trial date has been set yet on the new charges. The Colombian singer has been tied to the nation for more than a decade due to her 11-year relationship with retired FC Barcelona soccer player Gerard Piqué, with whom she shares two children; the couple broke up in 2022.
Last year, Shakira rejected a settlement deal offered by prosecutors, opting to go to trial instead after paying an estimated $24 million fine. At the time, her London-based publicist said that the singer had, “always cooperated and abided by the law, demonstrating impeccable conduct as an individual and a taxpayer,” while accusing the Spanish Tax Agency of violating her rights. Prosecutors said at the time that they would ask the court to sentence Shakira to eight years and two months in prison if convicted of tax fraud.
