Shakira: She is at war with the tax authorities – They want to “burn” me in public…

Colombian singer, Shakirahas published a lengthy and scathing letter, setting out her own version of events regarding the years-long legal battle with Spanish tax service.

The artist accuses the agency of falsifying information about her tax residency, of acting with “underlying sexist bias” and of trying to “burn” her in public. According to her, the agency was more interested in providing “fodder” to the media than listening to her arguments, as she states in her letter published on Wednesday, September 4, 2024 in Spanish newspaper “El Mundo”.

In 2023, Shakira surprised her fans – and not only – when she was accused of a tax offense related to her residence in Spain between 2012 and 2014, which led to her paying a fine of more than 7 million euros.

However, in her letter, the singer insists she took this responsibility “not out of cowardice or guilt”, but to protect her children and spare them the hassle of a protracted legal process in the public eye. The singer’s lawyers told the trial that their client had been a tax resident in the Bahamas – which lost its tax haven status this year – since 2004, which the prosecution denied, saying she had been based in Spain since 2011.

Shakira begins her story by recalling that in 2023 she was living under intense media pressure, with cameras following her every step, eager to capture any sign of weakness or personal breakdown. She explains that the media trial surrounding her divorce from then-Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique and the tax allegations was a very tempting spectacle for the press and some state institutions, who seemed more interested in exposing her publicly rather than guaranteeing a fair process.

In this sense, the singer claims that the service created a distorted image of her, presenting her as an artist who was trying to avoid her tax obligations.

One of the central points of the letter is Shakira’s criticism of the approach of the Tax Agency, which she says exploited and deliberately used her desire to maintain her relationship with Pique, who was living in Spain on business.

According to the singer, her visits to Spain during those years did not imply the intention of permanent settlement, but were motivated by her romantic relationship, and she emphasizes that this created “a lot of complications” in her professional career. “I knew from the beginning that the IRS’s fabricated story confused and manipulated two completely different intentions: One was the desire to settle in a country, and the other, very different, was the desire to thrive in a relationship in that country. They “merged” these two, to make me a tax resident from 2011 and create obligations that did not exist”he explains.

In 2018, the tax authorities accused the singer of tax evasion, considering that between 2012 and 2014 she resided in Spain and therefore should have paid taxes. The finance ministry claimed that during those four years she should have paid personal income tax, resulting in her being charged with fraud of €14.5 million. Shakira was fined €7.3 million and thus avoided jail time.

Shakira not only defends herself in her letter, but also reflects on the personal and financial impact this process has had on her life. She claims her ‘Spanish decade’, which coincided with her relationship with Pique, was a ‘financially lost decade’. Despite the fact that she gave 120 concerts in 90 cities around the world, she reports that all the income generated during that time went to the Spanish state.

The artist believes that the agreement she signed in 2023 was a difficult decision, but necessary to protect her children and allow them to move on with their lives without the constant burden of accusations on their shoulders. For Shakira, this agreement did not mean an admission of guilt, but a measure to ensure the well-being of her family.