Shakira cleared in Spain tax fraud case, to receive $64 million refund

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Spanish court rules authorities failed to prove tax residency, overturning €55 million fine and ending eight-year legal battle.

Shakira has won a major legal victory in Spain after a court cleared her of tax fraud allegations tied to the 2011 tax year. The ruling ends an eight-year legal battle and orders Spanish authorities to refund more than €60 million (about $64–$70 million), including fines and interest.

The National Court in Madrid ruled that prosecutors failed to prove Shakira spent more than 183 days in Spain in 2011. That threshold determines tax residency under Spanish law. Judges found she only spent around 163 days in the country that year, which means she did not qualify as a Spanish tax resident.

As a result, the court overturned a €55 million penalty previously imposed by Spain’s tax agency. It also ordered the Treasury to return all funds collected, along with interest.

Shakira welcomed the decision and said the ruling confirms what she maintained throughout the case — that she committed no fraud. Her legal team called the outcome a correction of a long-running misunderstanding between the singer and Spanish authorities.

The case focused on income and residency rules during a period when Shakira was frequently travelling for work and living between countries. Spanish officials argued she should have paid taxes locally, while her defence insisted she did not meet the residency threshold.

This ruling applies only to the 2011 tax dispute. It does not affect a separate 2023 settlement in which Shakira agreed to pay a fine related to earlier allegations.

Spanish tax authorities are expected to review whether to appeal the latest decision. For now, the judgment marks one of the most significant legal wins in Shakira’s long-running tax disputes in Spain, closing a chapter that has followed her for nearly a decade.

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