Global music star Shakira has been cleared of tax fraud allegations linked to her 2011 income after Spain’s High Court overturned an earlier ruling against her.
The decision, delivered on Monday, May 18, cancelled a Sh8.1 billion penalty imposed on the singer in 2021 by Spanish tax authorities.
A representative for the hitmaker told BBC and Reuters that the Spanish government is now expected to refund Shakira more than Sh8.8 billion.
The court ruled that authorities failed to prove the four-time Grammy winner stayed in Spain for at least 183 days in 2011, which is the legal threshold required to qualify as a tax resident.
However, the judgment only applies to the 2011 tax year and does not affect investigations linked to later years. Spanish tax officials had previously argued that Shakira had strong ties to Spain through her former relationship with retired footballer Gerard Piqué, with whom she shares two sons.
Reacting to the ruling, Shakira said the judgment had dismantled a long-running narrative against her.
“Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling,” she said. She added that her greatest wish is for the ruling to set a precedent for ordinary citizens who are crushed by a system that forces them to prove their innocence at the cost of economic and emotional ruin.
Her lawyer, José Luis Prada, described the judgment as the end of an eight-year ordeal that took an unacceptable toll and reflected a highly flawed administrative practice. He noted that while Shakira had the resources to fight, many ordinary taxpayers could not afford such long legal battles.
Shakira stated that there was never any fraud, and the administration could never prove otherwise simply because it was not true.
This is not her first legal battle with Spanish tax authorities.
In November 2023, Shakira settled a separate case by paying a fine of Sh968 million to avoid a prison sentence over allegations that she failed to pay taxes between 2012 and 2014.
Despite the settlement, she maintained her innocence and said she settled for the sake of her children. In May 2024, prosecutors also dropped separate allegations linked to her 2018 income.
The singer is currently preparing for the North American leg of her world tour before concluding with 12 performances in Madrid this September.