Shakira seems to love three things: shaking her hips, taking down boar thieves, and avoiding taxes! Because she has been named in a new dump of documents that seem to show that she’s been avoiding paying taxes by setting up a P.O. box in a tax haven country. And she isn’t the only one! Sir Elton John, Claudia Schiffer, Ringo Starr, and Julio Iglesias have all also been named in a new tax exposé called the Pandora Papers. From the people who brought you the Panama Papers: more rich people avoiding taxes.
In 2016, the Panama Papers were leaked and the millions of documents from Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, showed us how a bunch of rich people avoided paying taxes by setting up offshore accounts in countries they don’t really live in. Famous people like Simon Cowell and Emma Watson were named in the papers. And a journalist who was involved in the publication of the papers was killed in a car bombing a year later. Nothing suspicious there. But whoever wrote this newest rich people data drop may wanna start taking the bus.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Shakira, Elton, Ringo, Claudia, and Julio all got named in the newest Pandora Papers leak which is far bigger than the OG, and allegedly shows people setting up shell companies in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, or the Bahamas. The release came from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). And the millions of financial records came from 14 different service providers doing business in 38 different jurisdictions globally, and some of the records go back to the 1970s, while most are from 1996 to 2020. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis were also named in the leak. While the documents don’t accuse people of any crimes, facts are facts.
THR says that an attorney for Shakira already denied all wrongdoing and explained that tax officials are aware that she has companies in the Bahamas and it provides no tax advantages. It’s not shocking she’d want to get ahead of this since Shakira is literally facing criminal tax fraud charges in Spain. Shakira is accused of failing to pay $16.84 million in taxes between 2012 and 2014.
Representatives for Claudia also denied she’s avoiding taxes and said she pays them in the UK where she lives. But we’ll see what the government has to say about that, because the UK chancellor, or finance minister, Rishi Sunak said that the tax authorities will be looking into the papers, although he defended the accusations that London is easy on rich people who don’t pay taxes.
Asked in a BBC radio interview if he was ashamed that London was sometimes seen as a place for rich people looking to get out of paying their fair share of taxes, Sunak, a member of the ruling Conservative Party, said: “I don’t think it is a source of shame because actually, our track record on this is very strong,” adding, “there is a global dimension to it and we need other countries to co-operate with us to tackle this, but we are determined to do that.”
The Australia Tax Office also said that it will also analyze Pandora Papers “to identify any possible Australian links.”
Meanwhile, Tori Spelling is probably livid after seeing so many famous people were approved for tax-free offshore bank accounts when the people she talked to on the phone to set one up laughed at her before hanging up.
Pic: KIKA/WENN.com
