Shakira confident ‘justice will prevail’ in tax evasion case

Shakira is confident that “justice will prevail” in her favor in her upcoming tax evasion trial in Spain.

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The Colombian pop star was accused by the Spanish government of failing to pay her taxes in the country between 2012 and 2014. They claimed she spent more than 183 days a year in Spain during that time, making it tax on accommodations, while his team claims it was his primary residence in the islands. Bahamas.

In an interview with ELLE magazine, the Hips Don’t Lie singer explained that “as a matter of principle,” she chose to fight the charges in court rather than settle the case privately.

“Because I have to fight for what I believe in, because these are false accusations,” she said. First of all, I didn’t get to spend 183 days a year at all at that time. I was busy fulfilling my professional obligations around the world. Second, I paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they took legal action. So to this day, I owe them something. Finally, I received a script from one of the world’s four largest tax firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident I had been doing things right and transparent from day one.”

The 45-year-old singer added that the government had no evidence to support their “fake allegations” and accused him of engaging in a “vicious press campaign” to try to force her to settle the case. “But I am confident that I have enough evidence to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favour.”

Shakira claimed the Spanish tax authorities were eyeing her once she started dating Spanish footballer Gerard Pique in 2011. She continued to travel the world until their eldest son Milan, now nine, started school in 2014 and moved to Barcelona.

“While Gerard and I were dating, I was on a world tour. I had spent more than 240 days outside of Spain, so there was no way for me to qualify as a resident. The Spanish tax authority saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started drooling. From They obviously wanted to go after that money no matter what.Even for the next few years, I traveled the world, working nonstop during pregnancy or with Milan as a baby, when my caesarean had just been closed.They knew I wasn’t in Spain for long. and that Spain was neither my place of work nor my livelihood, but they came to take me anyway, for a very specific purpose.

Shakira and Gerard Pique, who split this year, also have a seven-year-old son named Sasha. A trial date has not yet been set.