Prosecutors in Barcelona plan to present criminal charges against music icon Shakira for allegedly defrauding the Spanish treasury of 14.5 million euros ($A22.9 m) in taxes between 2012 and 2014.

The singer's attorneys have been informed that she will face charges, judicial sources told EFE on Friday.

Prosecutors contend she would have evaded Spanish income tax during the 2011-2014 period by claiming she resided in the Bahamas for more than half of each of those years.

Shakira is the partner of Spanish soccer star Gerard Pique, who plays for FC Barcelona, and the couple's first child was born here in 2013.

Barcelona daily La Vanguardia reported that several months ago Shakira paid 20 million euros ($A31.6m) for her 2011 debt plus interest, while over the past few days she paid another $14.5 million euros ($A22.9m) for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.

"Shakira has at all times fulfilled her tax obligations and owes no money to the Spanish Treasury," the singer's representatives said on Friday in a statement.

"As soon as she was made aware of the amount that according to the Tax Agency she owed, as a gesture of good faith, she made the payment in full, and, therefore, there are currently no monies owed," the statement said.

The artist and her accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers maintain that until 2015 she had never spent more than 183 days a year in Spain, meaning that she was not required to pay Spanish income tax.

Her representative said that hers is a "unique case," since she is a foreigner residing in Spain with income that comes 96 per cent from abroad.

"It is important to note that Shakira's intense professional activity takes her all over the world, and as such, her business and family models are very different from conventional models," the statement said.