Shakira Opens Up About Dealing With Tax Evasion Allegations

Singer Shakira has denied committing tax evasion despite the allegations.

Prosecutors in Spain have alleged that the 45-year-old did not pay 14.5 million euros in taxes to the Spanish government between 2012 and 2014.

The entertainer is facing eight years in prison and spoke with Elle about why she’s choosing to fight the allegations.

“Because I have to fight for what I believe; because these are false accusations. First of all, I didn’t spend 183 days per year at that time at all. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world,” she said. “Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit,” she said.

Shakira also claims “as of today,” she owes “zero to them.”

“And finally, I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one,” she added.

Continuing, she said, “However, even without evidence to support these fictional claims, as they usually do, they’ve resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements. It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities do this often not only with celebrities like me (or Ronaldo, Neymar, Alonso, and many more), it also happens unjustly to the regular taxpayer. It’s just their style.”

Shakira also said she is confident that she has enough proof to support her case and that justice will prevail in her favor. She plans to have her day in court because “it’s a matter of principle.”