The Colombian singer Shakira (42) appeared on Thursday in front of the investigating judge in the Spanish city of Barcelona. She is suspected of having paid around € 14.5 million in taxes between 2012 and 2014.
Shakira arrived in the Esplugues de Llobregat court around 9.50 am, where she had to be interrogated at 10 am. She was met by a whole bunch of journalists.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Shakira did not pay taxes in Spain between 2011 and 2014 while she was staying in the country at the time. Shakira has been living with Gerard Piqué since 2011 and in 2015 chose Spain as her tax residence. Previously she was ‘housed’ in the Bahamas for tax purposes, but that is now disputed by the Spanish court.
The singer’s lawyers say that her income until 2014 came mainly from “international tours” and that at that time she “didn’t even live in Spain for six months a year”. To be called a tax resident in Spain, one must live in the country for at least six months a year.