Shakira settles tax dispute with Spanish authorities hours earlier than trial
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Shakira says she has settled her tax dispute with Spanish authorities simply hours earlier than she was resulting from seem in court docket.
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer was set to face trial in Barcelona at the moment (Monday 20 November) to face fees that she didn’t pay 14.5 million euros in Spanish revenue tax between 2012 and 2014.
Prosecutors in Barcelona alleged that the Grammy winner spent greater than half of that two-year interval in Spain and, due to this fact, ought to have paid taxes within the nation, regardless that her official residence was within the Bahamas.
She has since issued an announcement saying that she has resolved the dispute with Spain’s authorities, after earlier vowing to struggle what she known as false accusations.
“Throughout my career, I have always strived to do what’s right and set a positive example for others,” the Colombian artist, 46, mentioned.
She continued that, regardless of her and her authorized counsel’s efforts, tax authorities in Spain “pursued a case against me as they have against many professional athletes and other high-profile individuals, draining those people’s energy, time, and tranquility for years at a time”.
“While I was determined to defend my innocence in a trial that my lawyers were confident would have ruled in my favor, I have made the decision to finally resolve this matter with the best interest of my kids at heart who do not want to see their mom sacrifice her personal well-being in this fight,” she mentioned.
“I need to move past the stress and emotional toll of the last several years and focus on the things I love – my kids and all the opportunities to come in my career, including my upcoming world tour and my new album, both of which I am extremely excited about. I admire tremendously those who have fought these injustices to the end, but for me, today, winning is getting my time back for my kids and my career.”
As a part of the deal that places an finish to the trial, the prosecution modified jail time for Shakira with fines, the decide mentioned throughout the trial’s first listening to.
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Spanish tax authorities have been cracking down on leisure and sporting figures, together with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, in recent times.
In 2017, Messi’s 21-month jail sentence for tax fraud was switched to a 252,000 euro tremendous by the Spanish courts, after he and his father, Jorge, have been discovered responsible of defrauding Spain of 4.1 million euros between 2007 and 2009.
In 2019, Ronaldo put an finish to his personal tax evasion case after 4 years, when he pleaded responsible to tax fraud and agreed to pay a tremendous of practically 19 million euros. He was additionally given a two-year suspended sentence.
Both gamers prevented jail time due to a provision that enables judges to droop sentences for 2 years or much less for first-time offenders.
Shakira, whose full title is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, has been linked to Spain since she started courting the now-retired soccer star Gerard Piqué, whom she met on the set of her “Waka Waka” music video in 2010.
The former couple, who share two kids, lived collectively in Barcelona till 2022, after they ended their 11-year relationship in dramatic trend, with Shakira releasing a diss monitor geared toward Piqué and his new girlfriend, Clara Chia Marti.
Source: independent.co.uk
