Shakira breaks her silence after winning against Hacienda: "For almost a decade I was treated as guilty"

Shakira has publicly celebrated her judicial victory against Hacienda after the Audiencia Nacional annulled the tax assessments and sanctions imposed on her for the 2011 fiscal year. The court considers that the Agencia Tributaria has not been able to prove that the artist was a tax resident in Spain that year.

After the sentence was known, the Colombian singer issued a forceful statement in which she denounced the personal and media wear and tear suffered during these years. “There was never fraud and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise,” the artist affirmed.

Shakira also assured that throughout the process she was “treated as guilty” and criticized the leaks and public exposure that, as she explained, seriously affected her health and the well-being of her family.

“Every step of the process was leaked, distorted and amplified, using my name and public image to send a threatening message to the rest of taxpayers,” the singer lamented, celebrating that this narrative “collapses” now with the judicial resolution.

The Audiencia Nacional has also ordered the return of approximately 60 million euros to the artist, in addition to the corresponding interest. The sentence concludes that Shakira remained outside of Spain for more than 183 days during 2011, so she had no obligation to pay taxes as a tax resident in the country.

The ruling also rejects that there was then a stable family nucleus in Spain with Gerard Piqué and rules out that the main center of her economic activities was in Spanish territory. In her statement, Shakira wanted to dedicate this victory to “the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt.”