‘I owe zero to them’: Shakira Says She’s Untouchable Because She Has World’s Biggest Tax Specialist Firm On Her Side, Calls Tax Fraud Case As ‘Salacious Press Campaign’
Shakira recently appeared on the digital cover story of Elle. The singer talked about her legal battle with Spanish authorities after they accused the singer of tax fraud in July. As per the authorities, the singer lived in Spain from 2012 to 2014 but did not pay taxes during that period. Shakira’s legal team was confident they will win the case as all the accusations were false. She claimed that she paid 17.2 million euros to the tax office and her lawyers state that “there has been no outstanding debt with the tax authorities for many years.” If she is found guilty, she could face more than eight years in prison as well as owe $24.5 million in fines.
Shakira says she doesn’t owe anything to the Spanish authorities
Colombian singer Shakira told Elle that the accusations are false and she doesn’t owe anything to the Spanish authorities. She even revealed that she consulted one of the best tax specialist firms in the world,
“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. Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I owe 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.”
Even in the past, Shakira’s legal team claimed that she has paid the taxes and there has been no outstanding amount. She accused the tax authorities of launching a “salacious press campaign” to damage her reputation.
Also read: How Gerard Pique is Torturing Shakira By Keeping Her Most Prized Possession Hostage
Shakira says she didn’t qualify as a resident of Spain
The singer claimed that tax authorities started tracking her down after she started dating footballer Gerard Pique back in 2011. She said the authorities started to “salivate” when she started dating a Spanish citizen. She said,
“While Gerard and I were dating, I was on a world tour. I spent more than 240 days outside of Spain, so there was no way I qualified as a resident. The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what … They knew I wasn’t in Spain the required time, that Spain wasn’t my place of work or my source of income, but they still came after me, with their eyes on the prize.”
The singer is confident that if the matter reaches court she will easily prove herself innocent. The Hips Don’t Lie singer is already going through a tough split from Gerard Pique, so the tax fraud case just added to her list of woes. In the interview, she said she is going through the “darkest hour” of her life.
Gerard Pique and Shakira’s relationship came to an end
Gerard Pique and Shakira officially announced in a joint statement in June that they are separating. They started dating shortly after they met while filming a music video for Shakira’s hit Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) in 2010. The singer told Elle that she had to sacrifice her career to support Gerard Pique’s football career claiming that “it was a sacrifice of love.”
Shortly after the split, Gerard Pique was spotted with his new girlfriend Clara Chia Marti. Reports say that they have been dating for a year now and their relationship could be the reason behind the split. The ex-couple share two sons, Sasha and Milan. They are avoiding a legal battle and are trying to decide who gets their custody.
Source: LA Times
