Shakira is fighting back against Spanish authorities who claim she failed to pay taxes while living in the country from 2012 through 2014.
The singer filed new court documents in the European nation on Friday, according to TMZ and others. In the newly-shared court filing, the singer responds to allegations that she failed to pay more than $14 million in taxes while supposedly a resident of Spain during those three years. And she’s not holding back!
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Per the outlet, Shakira calls out Spanish prosecutors for a “smear campaign” against her throughout the whole process. She says that according to the laws of the county, she must pay taxes there if she spends 183 days or more within the nation’s borders. However, she states in the docs that she was not a resident of Spain for the required length of time in those years.
In fact, she notes that she actually paid a considerable amount of tax money to the United States government during the time period in question — $10,141,075 to be exact! She says that was when she appeared as a coach on The Voice, and thus, she was in the US for most of her time during those three years.
The Whenever, Wherever singer also noted that she only ever declared herself a tax resident of Spain beginning in 2015. That occurred after she settled there with her family and first enrolled her son in school. But those three years before, the Waka Waka singer claims, were primarily spent elsewhere and thus should not qualify under Spanish law.
Furthermore, she claims in these new legal docs that authorities are even trying to get her for failure to pay taxes in 2011! Regarding that year, she has responded that she was on a global tour during much of that time period and only spent a “grand total” of about two months in the country.
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Still, prosecutors aren’t stopping their pursuit. As the outlet notes, they are seeking an 8-year prison sentence and a $24 million fine if she’s convicted in the upcoming trial. Shakira has stood by her claims of innocence, though. She’s even alleged that she’s already paid more than $90 million to the Spanish tax authorities.
She summed up her state of mind in these new docs by claiming Spanish prosecutors have violated her right of privacy and presumption of innocence. Obviously, it remains to be seen what will end up happening in this case. But clearly, she is fighting back hard against these charges that she sees as this aforementioned “smear campaign.”
Thoughts, Perezcious readers? Share your tax takes down in the comments (below)…
[Image via WENN/Avalon]
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