Shakira facing new tax investigation in Spain shortly after Miami move

Celebrities

By Nika Shakhnazarova

July 20, 2023 | 7:17am

Shakira is facing a fresh tax probe in Spain after officials launched an investigation into a second case of alleged tax fraud by the singer.

With a trial date set for an existing tax fraud case over alleged missed tax payments between 2012 and 2014, the “Hips Don’t Lie” hitmaker, 46, is facing yet another blow after officials confirmed Thursday that an investigation will be launched into two possible cases of tax fraud from 2018.

The probe will be conducted by a judge at a court in the Esplugues de Llobregat region of Spain, near Barcelona, and is the same court that launched her initial investigation which is going to trial.

The “Whenever, Wherever” singer, who relocated to Miami with her two sons earlier this year, will have to return to Barcelona in November to stand trial.

Her dramatic move across the pond comes after she split from her former partner and soccer star Gerard Piqué.

“Court of Instruction Number 2 in Esplugues de Llobregat has opened a procedure following a complaint presented by prosecutors against the singer Shakira for two suspected tax crimes corresponding to her 2018 tax returns,” a spokesperson for Catalonia’s High Court of Justice said in a statement.

The Colombian pop star has been in the throes of a legal battle for allegedly failing to pay $14.7 million in taxes when she lived in Spain between 2012 and 2014, a time she claims she did not live in the country. 

Shakira — real name Shakira Mebarak — said she’s endured the “darkest hours” of her life as the Spanish government threatens her with up to eight years in prison if she’s found guilty of stiffing the country of millions of dollars in taxes.

Prosecutors insist Shakira did live in the country during that time and said she bought a home in Barcelona in May 2012. They said she lived there with Piqué and their first-born son, who was born in Spain in 2013.

At the time, Shakira’s official residence was in the Bahamas but prosecutors claim she spent most of her time in Spain. 

If found guilty in November’s trial, Shakira may be fined $23.5 million in addition to jail time.

She previously said that “Spanish tax authorities do this often” to celebrities and “unjustly to the regular taxpayer.”

The singer, who’s sold more than 80 million records worldwide, has repeatedly maintained her innocence and said she previously paid a $17.5 million debt to the Spanish tax office and doesn’t owe them anything else. 

The Post has reached out to Shakira’s reps for comment.