Shakira Investigated For Tax Evasion

Spanish tax authorities claim Shakira has been living in the country for much longer than she had indicated. 

– Shakira

Shakira maintained she has been living in Spain since 2015, which is when she started declaring her income in the country. The Spanish tax inspectors, however, don’t believe her. They reportedly carried out interviews with establishments frequented by the singer over the part years, including her hairdresser in Barcelona.

The investigation led them to believe that the singer has been spending the majority of her time in Spain since 2011. They reported their findings to the prosecutor’s office, which launched an investigation, the results of which are to be publicized in six months. Since 2011 has come under the statute of limitations, only the years 2012 until 2014 will be investigated. The country’s laws dictate, that a citizen, who spends at least 183 days in Spain, has to declare their worldwide income in the country.

Another reason that led the authorities to believe Shakira has been living in Spain since 2011 is the fact that it marks the year her relationship with FC Barcelona star Gerard Piqué was made public. The singer, however, maintained that she was a resident of the Bahamas between then and 2014. She reportedly hired auditing experts PwC to assist in providing information to the prosecution.

Shakira was mentioned in the Paradise Papers, which were leaked by Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung last year and highlighted the tax practices of several high-profile celebrities and companies. The papers revealed that Shakira owned a company in Malta, to which she had moved her musical asses, including intellectual property rights and brands in 2009. As reported by El Confidencial, the worth of all of those assets was estimated at €31.6 million ($38.8 million).

Pollstar’s box office reports on Shakira show not much activity between the years 2011 and 2015. Her last world tour (“The Sun Comes Out World Tour”) started on Sept. 15, 2010, at Montreal’s Bell Centre, and wrapped Oct. 14-15, 2011, with two shows at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. She came in 20th in Pollstar’s Top 100 Worldwide Tours 2011, grossing $53.2 million.

The tour supporting her current album El Dorado was originally set to begin on Nov. 8 at Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, but was moved to summer 2018, because the singer was suffering from a vocal cord hemorrhage, according to promoter Live Nation.

Dates in Canada and North America, where the “El Dorado World Tour” was supposed to land in January and February, had to be pushed back as well. The new dates were recently announced, with things kicking off June 5 in Cologne, Germany, and wrapping up Sept. 6 in San Jose, CA. New dates for the Latin American leg, which includes Mexico, are being promised at a later time.