Shakira wins €55m tax refund as Spanish court rules against authorities

Shakira, 49, has won a legal victory after a Spanish court ordered the country’s tax authority to refund around €55 million ($64 million), ruling that the money was improperly collected in a dispute over her tax residency. Spain’s National High Court said tax authorities failed to prove she spent at least 183 days in Spain in 2011, the threshold required to be considered a tax resident. The court found she spent 163 days in the country that year, 20 days short of the legal requirement. It added that the fines were unlawful because Spain’s tax residency claim for 2011 was “a fact which has not

Shakira,49, has won a legal victory after a Spanish court ordered the country’s tax authority to refund around €55 million ($64 million), ruling that the money was improperly collected in a dispute over her tax residency.

Spain’s National High Court said tax authorities failed to prove she spent at least 183 days in Spain in 2011, the threshold required to be considered a tax resident. The court found she spent 163 days in the country that year, 20 days short of the legal requirement.

It added that the fines were unlawful because Spain’s tax residency claim for 2011 was “a fact which has not been proven.”

The refund includes about €24 million in income tax and nearly €25 million in fines linked to what authorities had classified as a “very serious” infringement.

Shakira welcomed the ruling, saying it “finally set the record straight” after years of legal pressure and reputational damage. She said she had endured prolonged public scrutiny and insisted there had “never been any fraud,” adding that the process affected her health and her family’s well-being.

The case forms part of a broader series of disputes between Shakira and Spanish tax authorities. In 2018, she reached a separate settlement to avoid a trial in a wider fraud investigation.

Shakira previously lived with former Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué for more than a decade, a period that overlaps with the years at the center of the tax dispute.

Spain’s tax agency said it will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court and that no payment will be made until a final decision.