A Spanish judge has ruled that Shakira must face trial for evading €14.5 million in tax.
The 44-year-old Colombian singer is accused of six offences that could result in jail time if she is found guilty.
Prosecutors claim that the famous singer stopped paying taxes in Spain in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Shakira previously disclosed that she lived in the Bahamas and was not a resident of Spain during those years and that she was only visiting the country ‘sporadically’.
According to Euro Weekly’s report, a judge has concluded there are ‘sufficient indications’ for Shakira to go to trial for allegedly avoiding the payment of 14.5 million euros.
Shakira plans to present an appeal to the Barcelona Court against the judgment.
The talented musician had previously made it clear she is innocent of tax evasion after she had been questioned by a Spanish judge. She denied allegations of evading tax when she lived in Spain between 2011 and 2014, during an hour and a half long hearing in Esplugues de Llobregat, near Barcelona.
Prosecutors claimed she failed to pay taxes in Spain despite being a resident in Spain for four years before 2014.
She allegedly relocated to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with Gerard Piqué was announced, but prosecutors disclosed she was officially in the Bahamas until 2015 when she started paying taxes in Spain.
The proceedings are only for the period 2012-2014, as the period for prosecuting tax evasion charges expired in 2011.
