Shakira pays €20m towards alleged tax arrears in Spain

The wife of FC Barcelona midfielder Gerard Piqué, and mother of his two sons Sasha and Milan, had not declared her earnings to fiscal authorities in Spain for those years as she had spent practically the whole of that time out of the country either on tour, recording, working with her charities or coaching on The Voice in Miami.

But Spain considers her main residence was in Barcelona, since she moved to the Catalunya capital soon after starting her relationship with Piqué following the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and had already started a family during that period.

In accordance with advice from her accountants and legal respresentatives, Shakira, 41, maintained her tax residence outside of Spain, but registered as a resident for financial purposes in 2015.

Despite the debts from the years 2011 and 2012 no longer being legally reclaimable – as they were accrued over four years ago – the amount Spain claims Shakira owes is over €120,000 in total, meaning the situation is automatically classed as a criminal, rather than civil offence.

It means that even once she has refunded the amount required in full plus interest and fines, she could still face court action and a suspended prison sentence of up to two years.

The half-Lebanese artist, who has been producing chart-topping albums since the age of 19, is the latest in a series of border-crossing celebrities to fall foul of Spanish tax authorities, despite having placed all their financial affairs in the hands of accountants and not become in any way directly involved in these.

FC Barça's Lionel Messi, originally from Argentina, and former Barça player, Brazilian-born Neymar – who is now based at Paris-Saint Germain (PSG) – have both been at the centre of court cases relating to their tax affairs in Spain.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo has recently faced legal action for similar reasons, having declared his taxes through companies set up in the UK – a structure he used whilst playing for Manchester United and which was, at least at the time, legal in Great Britain.

Like Shakira, Ronaldo says the problems with his fiscal affairs are due to 'differences in interpretation' about where he was considered tax-resident, given that a Premier League footballer spends a large part of his life outside of the country of his main address.

As for Shakira, she is now waiting for the tax authority to give a verdict on whether or not she will face court action, and has been told a decision will be made in the next six months.