Shakira has been acquitted after an eight-year battle with Spain's treasury over tax fraud allegations, and a Spanish high court has ordered that she be awarded €60 million, about $64 million, after an overturned fine. The ruling caps a dispute that has shadowed the singer since Spain's treasury accused her in 2011 of tax evasion in the country.
The court found that Shakira had lived in Spain for 163 days in 2011, short of the 183 days prosecutors tried to prove were needed to make her a tax resident. That finding was central to the case, which turned on whether she spent enough time in Spain that year to owe taxes there.
Shakira responded on social media with photos of herself and Rihanna's Bitch Better Have My Money playing in the background. She also wrote that after more than eight years of what she called brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy her reputation and sleepless nights that affected her health and her family's well-being, the National High Court had finally set the record straight. She said there was never any fraud and that the administration itself could not prove otherwise because it was not true.
The dispute has become one of the most closely watched tax cases involving a global pop star, in part because it played out in public and because Shakira later referenced it in her music, including the line, 'You left me with your mom as a neighbor, the press at my door, and a debt with the treasury / You thought you'd hurt me, but you made me stronger.' The case also highlights how long tax fights can linger even after a court ruling appears to settle the question.
Spain's treasury said it will try to appeal the decision to the country's Supreme Court, which means the matter may not be finished yet. Shakira may not be able to collect the money until the Supreme Court issues a final ruling, leaving the award in legal limbo even after her acquittal.
