Shakira became a household name in the 2000s as she mesmerized the world with her expansive vocal range, global rhythms and sinuous hips, selling tens of millions of albums.

But lately she has been wrapped up in a multimillion-dollar tax evasion case in Spain. Prosecutors have charged Shakira, 45, with six counts of tax fraud for failing to pay 14.5 million euros in income taxes. They are seeking an eight-year prison sentence and a fine of more than 23 million euros.

Shakira has repeatedly denied the accusations. In a statement, representatives for Shakira said that she has repaid the 14.5 million euros “they were claiming” and that she “has no tax debts with the Spanish Treasury.”

A judge in a municipality near Barcelona has approved a trial, but a date has not been set. Her lawyers plan to deliver a statement of defense in the next few weeks.

What is the accusation against Shakira?

Shakira, the Colombian pop star whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, is accused of failing to pay income taxes to the Spanish government between 2012 and 2014, though she said that was a period when she was not living in Spain. El Periódico, a newspaper in Barcelona, first reported the investigation.

According to court documents, prosecutors in Spain said Shakira bought a house in Barcelona in 2012 that became a primary home for her along with her partner, the FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué, and their son. The couple, who split up earlier this year and are in the midst of a custody battle, have two children together.

In a July indictment, prosecutors said Shakira spent more than half of each year in Spain between 2012 and 2014 and used a previously established “corporate framework” to hide income and assets during those years. The “business plot” included companies based in the United States, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Malta, Panama and Luxembourg, prosecutors said, with shell companies that “she used for her own profit and benefit.”

In an interview with Elle magazine, Shakira said she was not living in Spain during this time, but was “busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world.”

Shakira said she was on tour during much of the time in question, “so there was no way I qualified as a resident,” she said in the Elle interview. “The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate. It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what.”

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In July, Shakira rejected a plea deal. She said in the Elle interview that standing trial was “a matter of principle.”

Residence under Spanish tax law

Spanish domestic tax law uses three criteria to consider if a person is a resident of a Spanish territory: physical presence, the center of economic interests and the location of a spouse and children. In Shakira’s case, the determination of presence is key, said Adolfo Martín Jiménez, a professor of tax law at the University of Cádiz and an international taxation expert at Pérez-Llorca, a law firm in Madrid.

“Even if you are not present for that many days, a sporadic presence is regarded as presence,” Mr. Jiménez said, adding that “there’s a tendency in Spain, within the tax administration, to consider if a person is not able to prove they are resident in another country, then there’s a presumption that they are doing something strange.”

Like in the United States, Spain applies a worldwide nexus to income. Fines like the one the Spanish tax authorities are pursuing — 23 million euros — are based on income, Mr. Jiménez said.

How do these cases typically play out?

Shakira is not the first celebrity to be the target of the Spanish tax authorities.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese soccer star, paid $22 million in back taxes and fines as part of a 2018 settlement over undeclared earnings from his advertising contracts. As part of the agreement, Ronaldo, who played for Real Madrid for 9 years, accepted a prison sentence of two years. But under Spanish law, first-time tax offenders convicted of a financial crime are spared prison if the sentence is two years or less.

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Lionel Messi, the Argentine soccer star who played for Barcelona, has also been convicted in Spain of failing to disclose some of his advertising contracts.

But Shakira having paid off the taxes, as well as an additional 1.7 million euros in interest, does not mean that she is in the clear. Carlos Cruzado, a tax expert and the president of Gestha, the tax authority technicians’ union, said prosecutors had already taken this into account as a remedy when they asked for an eight-year prison sentence.

“Normally in these cases there is an agreement,” Mr. Cruzado said. “Surely, there will be before the trial starts so Shakira can avoid the risk of going to prison.”

The judicial process in Spain, like the system in the United States, has two phases: a pretrial hearing and oral arguments. Mr. Jiménez said that there was still a possibility for state prosecutors to reach a deal with Shakira’s legal team. But settlements usually occur before oral arguments, Mr. Jiménez said, and the possibility of a settlement happening now is “low.”

“Usually when someone decides to go to the higher court for judgment, that means they believe they have a strong case,” he said. “Many celebrities reach a settlement: some of them because they don’t believe they have a strong case; others simply want to close everything.”

Mr. Jiménez said that if Shakira were to be found guilty, time in prison could indeed be ordered.

In the Elle interview, Shakira pointed to Spanish tax authorities targeting other celebrities. “It’s just their style,” she said of the Spanish tax agency. “But I’m confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favor.”