William Hoke, Shakira Shimmies Out of Spanish Tax Assessments for Fiscal 2011 (Tax Notes Today, International, 2026 TNTI 96-9)

Spain’s National High Court has annulled tax assessments issued to pop sensation Shakira for fiscal 2011 after finding that the singer was not a tax resident of the country during that year.

In 2018 the Colombian-born singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, reached a settlement for the 2011 tax year. While the initial reports of the settlement indicated that Shakira had paid over €20 million to resolve the dispute, the high court said in a May 18 release that it had annulled personal income tax and wealth tax assessments and penalties totaling over €55 million for the year.

The high court said the tax agency had failed to prove that Shakira had been in Spain for more than the 183 days required to establish tax domicile. “On the contrary, the Chamber finds that Shakira’s stay in our country amounted to 163 days and that the administration has therefore failed to prove that the singer maintained her center of economic interests in Spain — as well as family ties with residents in our country,” it said.

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