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		</div><p><strong>A Spanish court has acquitted Colombian singer Shakira in a tax fraud case, ordering the government to return more than 55 million euros (£48 million) in wrongly imposed fines, a court document said.</p>
<p>The decision follows years of tax troubles in Spain for the superstar.</p>
<p>The ruling relates to a dispute over the 2011 tax year in which Spanish tax authorities did not prove that the singer was a resident of Spain, the Madrid-based court said in its decision.</p>
<p>For a person to be considered a tax resident in Spain, she must spend more than 183 days in the country.</strong></p>
<figure id="attachment_175794" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-175794" style="width: 536px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/5C1F9EB5-AD6C-4EFB-9A17-F2B1C6B058F4.jpeg" alt="Shakira" width="536" height="307" class="size-full wp-image-175794" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-175794" class="wp-caption-text">Shakira acquitted in tax libel case</figcaption></figure>
<p>Spanish authorities were only able to prove that Shakira lived in Spain that year for a total of 163 days, the court said, ordering the treasury to reimburse the singer the tax paid plus interest.</p>
<p>Spain’s tax agency argued that at the time Shakira was tied to Spain through a relationship with now-retired football player Gerard Pique, and that she based her main economic activities in the country.</p>
<p>But the High Court ruled that the relationship could not be legally equated to a marital one, nor was it proven that “the main centre or base” of Shakira’s activities or economic interests in 2011 were directly or indirectly located in Spain.</p>
<p>“There was never any fraud, and the tax agency itself was never able to prove otherwise, simply because it wasn’t true,” Shakira said in a statement provided by her lawyers.</p>
<p>Spain’s treasury is to reimburse the singer 60 million euros (almost £52 million), including interest, Shakira’s lawyer said.</p>
<p>“This resolution comes after an eight-year ordeal that has taken an unacceptable toll, reflecting a lack of rigor in administrative practices,” her lawyer Jose Luis Prada said in a statement.</p>
<p>In 2023, in a separate tax fraud case, Shakira reached a deal with Spanish prosecutors to avoid a trial over charges that she did not pay Spanish income tax worth 14.5 million euros (then £12.6 million) between 2012 and 2014.</p>
<p>The singer accepted the charges and was forced to pay 7.3 million euros (then £6.4 million) in addition to the previously unpaid taxes and interest.</p>
<p>The Hips Don’t Lie singer was named in the 2017 “Paradise Papers” leaks that detailed the offshore tax arrangements of numerous high-profile individuals, including pop icons Madonna and U2’s Bono.</p>
<p>Spain’s tax authorities have over the past decade or so cracked down on football stars including Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for not paying their full due in taxes.</p>
<p>These players were found guilty of tax evasion but avoided prison time thanks to a provision that allows a judge to waive sentences under two years in length for first-time offenders.</p>
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