Spanish court orders 55 million euro tax refund to Shakira

Pop star Shakira has won back the huge sum of €55 million from the Spanish tax authorities.

A court in Madrid has ordered Spain's tax authority to return the money, ruling that it was improperly obtained during a dispute over her 2011 taxes.

Although the verdict was reached mid-April, it wasn't until Monday that the story broke.

The case centred on how long the Colombian singer was a full resident in Spain.

She bought a house in Spain in 2012, but argued that her frequent touring made it impossible for her to have resided in Spain the required 183 days that year.

The court agreed with Shakira and not with the Spanish tax authorities, and the money has been returned.

One up for the beavers then.

The media is reporting that Shakira said this on hearing the news: "...thousands of ordinary citizens who ‌are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes them guilty and forces them to prove their innocence while facing financial ​and emotional ruin."

Well said and her lawyer Jose Luis Prada added: "This decision comes after an eight-year ordeal that has taken an unacceptable toll, reflecting a lack of ⁠rigor ​in administrative practice."

This wasn't her first rodeo, because back in 2023, she reached a settlement in a separate tax evasion case which related to the years between 2012 and 2014.

In this case, it's said she accepted the charges in order to avoid a trial and agreed to pay some €7 million, saying she accepted the fine in order to spare her family further legal proceedings.

Shakira’s estimated net worth is about $300 million, so not poor then, although she'll be glad to get the net €48 million back in her piggy bank.

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