Colombian pop star Shakira might be facing a new trial for tax evasion, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors at a Spanish court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the singer failed to declare over €11 million ($11.6 million) in profits from her 2018 world tour, among other things.
A judge will now decide whether to send the case to trial. Shakira's legal defense said she had not yet been notified of the complaint at her official residence in Miami.
Why is Shakira being investigated?
In the complaint, the prosecution argues that Shakira was a resident of Spain at the time of her "El Dorado World Tour," and thus obliged to tax all her revenues in Spain.
But the singer chose to move her revenue to "companies domiciled in countries with low taxation and high opacity," according to prosecutors.
They say Shakira failed to pay over €5 million in income tax as well as about €774,000 in wealth tax. Considering interest and voluntary payments they put the singer's debt at €6,6 million.
Shakira could face jail in earlier tax evasion case
The 46-year-old singer, who is one of Latin America's most successful artist and has won multiple Grammys, is already set to go trial in an earlier tax evasion case.
Prosecutors allege she failed to pay €14.5 million in taxes between 2012 and 2014, for which she could face a fine of €24 millions and an eight-year prison sentence.
Shakira has denied the accusations, saying she paid her taxes for that time in the Bahamas. She claims to nonetheless have repaid all taxes plus interest to the Spanish state.
She was among those named in the Pandora Papers leak, which revealed wealthy and powerful figures' affiliation with companies in offshore tax havens.
Spain's tax claims against the singer date back to the time when she was living near Barcelona with her ex-partner, Spanish former footballer Gerard Pique. Pique was ordered to repay over €2 million for tax evasion by a Spanish court in 2019.
fg/jcg (Reuters, DPA)
