Shakira Tax Residency Court Battle
READING TIME: 5 minutes
According to major news outlets, allegations claim the $220M net worth entertainer evaded (the illegal form of withholding) tax payments to the Spanish Tax Authorities during the period 2011-2014, whilst partially resident in Spain, living with her partner FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué [1]. It does raise questions to why a high-profile celebrity, who after writing much of her own material so presumptuously would expect a reasonable flow of royalty cheques coming through, and who has also remained relatively controversy-free, would be accused of attempting such a scheme. However, claims of the celebrity elite committing this offence is actually more common, particularly in Spain, than once thought.
Efe News reported that PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Shakira’s chosen auditors, have confirmed an investigation is pending on this case, with the Spanish authorities requiring a detailed analysis of Shakira’s residency in and out of Spain during the time period mentioned earlier. The specific number of days / ties to a country, an individual resides in, in a certain jurisdictions, determines which country said resident must pay their taxes to.
In a silly act of defence, Shakira could be able to claim that her financial team were handling her tax withholdings on her behalf, thus she had little knowledge on the outstanding payments - this appears to be a common defence strategy amongst other ‘convicts’. However, Shakira’s personal lawyer Mr Camerini has also been required to discuss the Paradise Papers Scandal, which Shakira was involved in, which harms her personal reputation of tax evasion even further. The scandal claims there was the shuffling of Shakira’s documentation regarding her intellectual property [musical] rights and allegations arose that the star stashed $30M cash earned aside in a private account in Malta where taxes for the rich are nearly non-existent.
As mentioned earlier, this isn’t the first case of Spanish-based tax fraud performed by celebrities. Lionel Messi, Argentinian-born forward for FC Barcelona, was given a jail sentence of 21 months back in May 2017. However, Spanish legislation grants sentences under 2 years to be treated as probation in some cases, hence this loophole has allowed the player to continue his sporting career without causing much reputational damage [2]. Ronaldo and Neymar, two other high profile athletes who have had contracts in Spain, are also listed as having committed similar offences.
As we find out more on this story, it could be said that this is less about the individuals who are committing the offences, and more about the gaping loopholes the Spanish tax laws have left open for abuse.
Sources
[1] https://news.sky.com/story/shakira-facing-alleged-tax-dodging-investigation-in-spain-11220468
