The sentence made public this Monday by the National Court, which absolves the Colombian singer Shakira of the tax fraud accused by the Tax Agency, gives rise to a current of discontent existing in our country with the public Treasury due to its revenue greed - in a context of record tax revenues and a deliberate decision not to adjust the Personal Income Tax to collect more - and when the quality of public services is in question, with frequent strikes in healthcare, early childhood education, and infrastructure, such as railways, with insufficient funding even for maintenance.
This particular sentence considers that the Tax Office was wrong when it stipulated that the artist had her tax residence in 2011 in our country, which generated certain obligations with the tax authorities that resulted in the payment of 55 million euros in taxes and penalties that the Tax Agency considered "very serious" and equivalent to 125% of the amount considered defrauded in the Personal Income Tax and the Wealth Tax. Now the public treasury will have to refund the singer that amount, plus late payment interest, which could lead to a total amount exceeding 60 million euros.
The Tax Agency will likely urge the State Attorney's Office to appeal the sentence after analyzing it in detail, so the Supreme Court will have to rule on it, but if this criterion prevails, the author of hits like the 2010 World Cup anthem would be declared innocent regarding this tax year. It is worth noting that in 2023, the singer did reach an agreement with the Public Prosecutor's Office, which accused her of tax crimes in the Personal Income Tax and the Wealth Tax for the years 2012 to 2014, accepting six convictions of six months in prison, which were replaced by fines, in addition to another fine of 7.3 million. Another criminal case related to the year 2018 was ultimately dismissed and referred to the administrative sphere.
However, Monday's acquittal does not fully repair the reputational damage caused. "After more than eight years enduring brutal public accusations, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, sleepless nights that ended up affecting my health and my family's well-being, the National Court has finally set things right. There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn't true. Every step of the process has been leaked, distorted, and amplified, and my name and public figure have been used to send a threatening message to the rest of taxpayers," lamented the singer on Monday, who complained about being "treated as guilty."
"Today that narrative falls, and it does so with the force of a sentence. My greatest wish is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Tax Office and serves the thousands of anonymous citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence from economic and emotional ruin. This victory is dedicated to them," she claimed.
She thus becomes a champion of taxpayers' defense, among whom discontent has spread in recent years. The American law firm Robert Amsterdam, one of the most combative against the Spanish tax authorities, especially regarding the Beckham Law, stated on Monday that "the Shakira case is the best example of how the Spanish Tax Agency extorts citizens."
"The Tax Agency selects a famous person, threatens them, and thus instills fear in society. It demands millions of euros in payments, treating them as guilty for years and trying to destroy their reputation to pressure them into paying. Only those who can afford good lawyers for ten years have any chance of the case going to trial. This case demonstrates that the Tax Agency behaves like a mafia that only seeks to fill the government's coffers at the expense of treating citizens as criminals," they pointed out.
From the citizen platform Citizens in Action Movement, they tell EL MUNDO that "the news of Shakira's victory against the Tax Agency reinforces the idea of tremendous injustice to which taxpayers in Spain are subjected. The lack of clear criteria, the system's lack of transparency, and the absolute lack of collaboration on the part of the Tax Agency place the Spanish tax authorities as the worst enemy of economic activity in our country. In addition to the presumption of guilt and the public destruction that the Colombian artist has suffered, Spain's brand image is tremendously damaged when the National Court has indicated that the actions against the singer were unlawful," denounced their president, Ignacio Basco.
"We believe that this sentence should help us ensure that the Tax Agency begins to treat taxpayers in accordance with the law and with practices and procedures that place the citizen at the center, with equal treatment, and not as an alleged criminal to be preemptively seized. In this case, over 60 million euros, which will have to be repaid with interest, at the expense of all Spaniards due to the poor management of the Tax Office," he added.
The National Court has agreed to condemn the Tax Agency to pay court costs, something common when there is a complete dismissal of the arguments put forward by the Tax Office, although sources from the agency point out that it is a matter of interpreting the law and do not rule out that the Supreme Court may have a different opinion.
The Union of Tax Technicians (Gestha) argued on Monday that "Spanish tax legislation is one of the most protective in our neighboring countries," as here "it is up to the tax authorities to prove guilt," disagreeing with "thousands of citizens in Spain being abused and crushed by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence," as Shakira has criticized.