The Colombian singer is accused of evading taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014. Colombian singer Shakira has been called to appear in a Spanish court on June 12 to face accusations of failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($16.5 million) in tax, the court in the Catalonia region.
Prosecutors filed charges in December claiming Shakira had failed to pay tax on income earned between 2012 and 2014, during which time they say she lived in the region.
Shakira’s representatives said in a statement after the accusation was filed that the singer did not live in Spain until 2015 and had met all of her tax obligations.
The singer of “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Clandestino” regularly attends football matches of her partner, Gerard Pique, who plays for Barcelona. Pique and Shakira, a couple since the start of the decade, have two children.
According to reports from December when the case was first made public, she claimed to have lived the majority of her time outside of Spain during the 2012-2014 period.
The prosecutors claim that during this period she spent the minimum number of days per year in Spain to determine fiscal residency, according to local reports, and as such would be required to pay taxes in Spain on income earned anywhere in the world.
Shakira’s Spanish public relations firm said the singer had previously settled her debts with Spanish tax authorities but would testify as required in June, the Associated Press reported. She was widely reported to have paid 20 million euros in back taxes in Spain in February of last year.
