(CNN Spanish) – Although the Colombian artist Shakira left the country a few months ago, she continues to have a series of problems that link her to Spain. This case involves legal issues relating to alleged fraud by the Treasury Department in previous years.
The singer will appear in the Barcelona Provincial Court in November this year for alleged tax evasion of $16.2 million that took place in the 2012, 2013 and 2014 financial years.
These are facts about which the artist defends her innocence. He claims to have “always acted in accordance with the law and under the advice of the best tax experts,” his legal team recently told CNN.
However, this case is joined by another investigation into the alleged commission of two tax fraud offenses in 2018, as the Supreme Court of Catalonia announced last July.
Although the scope of this second investigation was unknown until this Tuesday, CNN was able to access the text of the lawsuit presented by the Barcelona Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, which accuses Shakira of defrauding the Spanish Ministry of Finance of an additional $6.4 million . Of this amount, 5.61 million US dollars (5.3 million euros) would correspond to the amount not paid by personal income tax (IRPF) and 819,000 US dollars (773,000 euros) would correspond to the income from the activity carried out by him.
The public prosecutor’s office assumes that due to her residence in Spain, the artist had to pay taxes on her entire worldwide income, regardless of where it was earned and regardless of the payer’s residence. However, he denounces that the singer did not do this and failed to declare income, attributing income to a corporate structure with a presence in “countries with low taxation and high opacity” and deducting expenses that were not appropriate.
When contacted by CNN, her legal team said that “no notice of the complaint related to fiscal year 2018 has been received in Miami, the singer’s official residence” and that her lawyers are “focused on preparing for the trial for fiscal year 2018.” Fiscal years 2012-2014 beginning November 20.”
The crimes against the public treasury listed in Articles 305 and 305bis of the Penal Code, which form the basis of the prosecution’s indictment for the 2018 financial year, are punishable in Spain by a prison sentence of two to six years and a double fine. up to six times the fraudulent fee.