FOR alleged tax fraud of €14.5 million (£12.9 million), Colombian singer Shakira will go on trial in Spain.
An undetermined date has been set by a court in Barcelona for the artist to go on trial for six alleged tax offences.
The superstar would face an eight-year prison sentence and a €23.8 million fine if proven guilty, according to Spanish authorities.
The 45-year-old has previously refuted accusations of impropriety.
In a recent interview with the Spanish-language issue of Elle magazine, she expressed her confidence that she had sufficient evidence to prove her case and that justice would ultimately be served in her favour.
According to a statement from Shakira's legal team, they will carry out their duties "by presenting the arguments at the proper moment."
She had earlier turned down the plea bargain that the prosecutors had offered, choosing to go to trial instead.
Shakira's residency status between 2012 and 2014, when prosecutors said she was allegedly residing in Spain but giving another address as her official residence, is at the centre of this dispute.
Spanish law defines a person as a resident for tax reasons if they stay in the nation for more than six months. Shakira claims that she wasn't primarily residing in Spain at the time, but she did.
Prosecutors allegedly said in a document released in July that she and her ex-partner, Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué, purchased a home in Barcelona in 2012 that they used as a family residence.
According to her attorneys, she spent a significant amount of time travelling outside of Spain up until 2014 and earned the majority of her money from overseas tours.
"When the Spanish tax officials learned I was dating a Spanish citizen, they began to drool. It's obvious that they intended to pursue that cash at any costs "she said to Elle magazine.
For tax purposes, Shakira declared Spain as her home country in 2015. She claimed to have paid $17.2 million in taxes and to have no outstanding debts.
In a different case in 2019, the Spanish national court penalised Mr. Piqué €2.1 million for avoiding taxes between 2008 and 2010.
Early in June, the couple made their decision to call it quits after 11 years together. They are parents to two kids, ages seven and nine.
She initially discussed their split in a public interview with Elle, telling the publication that she is going through "perhaps one of the most painful, darkest hours of my life."
