Pop star Shakira is facing an eight years jail term as she has been charged with defrauding the Spanish Treasury out of millions.
Prosecutors in Spain call for the maximum prison sentence for Shakira, who has been charged with six separate counts of tax fraud that amounts to nearly 14.5 million euros.
Shakira Avoided To Pay Taxes
They demanded that Shakira, full name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, be imposed a fine of 23 million euros. Prosecutors accuse Shakira to avoid paying taxes as she pretended to live abroad despite shifting to Barcelona in 2011.
Shakira Spent More than 600 Days in Spain Between 2012 to 2014
Tax inspectors spent more than a year checking up on Shakira, even visiting her favourite hairdressers in Barcelona and checking her social media to try to show she spent most of the three years in dispute in Spain. They concluded she had spent 242 days in Spain in 2012, 212 days in 2013 and 243 days in the country in 2014, according to The Sun.
Shakira Refuses Any Wrongdoing
Shakira, whose net worth was valued at around $350 million last year, has refused any wrongdoing. However, she had sold over 80 million records across the world.
Shakira Became A Full Tax Resident in Spain in 2015
In 2015, Shakira was registered as a full tax resident in Spain and was previously a tax resident in the Bahamas.
What Are Spain's Laws on Tax Matters?
According to Spanish laws, all residents are required to pay taxes on any income received overseas. Under the law, people who spend over 183 days in a year in Spain are considered the country's residents for tax purposes.
The prosecutor's document asserts that Shakira was ordinarily resident in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and in May 2012 bought a house in Barcelona which became a family home for herself, her partner, and their son born in Spain in 2013, according to Reuters.
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