Shakira, Hacienda doesn’t lie!
Even if we are used to the news that many stars from the football industry have tricked the Spanish treasury to add some more millions to their stock, now the famous Colombian singer wife of Piqué is being accused of “borrowing” around 10 million to Spain’s public finances. Her defense team is already trying to clean her name.
Shakira defrauded more than 10 million euros to the Spanish Treasury in three years, according to EL PAÍS. Yes, not only footballers do that. The Colombian singer eluded the payment of that sum between 2012 and 2014, years in which, according to the Tax Agency, she had to pay her taxes in Spain because she was a resident. The Prosecutor's Office is now investigating the Treasury's complaint and also the documentation provided by the defense of the artist. In the next few weeks, it will decide whether to file a lawsuit in the courts for three alleged crimes against public finances. Hacienda started an investigation on Shakira to clarify whether, since 2011 -when her relationship with Barça defender Gerard Piqué was made public- she lived in Barcelona. The law establishes that, if a citizen spends at least half of the year (plus one day) living in Spain, he/she is considered a tax resident. And he/she has to pay in concept of IRPF (Spain's Income Tax) the income obtained in the whole world to the maximum type. For the highest rents, like the one of Shakira, it approaches the 50% of the income.
The technicians of the Tax Agency examined the daily life of the Colombian singer: they visited the establishments that she frequented frequently - like a hairdressing salon in Barcelona - and radiographed her activity through social networks like Instagram. They came to the conclusion that, despite being an international artist who offers concerts in any city in the world, from 2011 she spent most of her time in Spain. During the inspection, Shakira's lawyers "were not too cooperative," according to the research sources. They limited themselves to saying that the singer had her residence in the tax haven of the Bahamas, where she has owned a house since 2004. The Treasury saw evidence of fiscal crime and took the case to the Prosecutor's Office, which had initiated an investigation. This means that the 10 million are a just a provisional number. The public ministry is examining the conclusions of the technicians, but also the exculpatory reports that, in recent weeks, has presented the defense of the singer to prevent the case from reaching the courts and Shakira facing criminal proceedings.
The Prosecutor's Office considers in its investigation the triennium 2012-2014, but not 2011, a fiscal year already prescribed that can only be pursued through administrative channels. That year was especially fruitful for the Colombian artist's career and associated business (advertising, marketing) as mentions the Spanish media. Treasury calculates that the fee defrauded only that year amounts to 20 million euros, a double amount than the three following years. For all we know, it’s hard to escape Spanish Hacienda.
