An Italian court has acquitted Luciano Pavarotti of charges of filing false tax returns.
The trial had started in May but was immediately adjourned to September.
The opera star had told the Modena court he had always acted in good faith when filing returns from 1989 to 1995.
Pavarotti said after his acquittal: "This is a very happy day for me. I was expecting nothing less than this outcome - my conscience has been clear throughout this long case and I feel that a cloud has been lifted."
The tenor has long claimed his official residence is Monte Carlo, a tax haven, rather than Modena.
He was not present in the courtroom for the late afternoon verdict, but he did attend final arguments in the morning.
"When it was all over we only spoke to him on the phone for a few seconds, but 'big' Luciano sounded very happy," said one of his lawyers, Mr Mario Giulio Leone.
Prosecutors had maintained that Modena, where the tenor had lived for years and holds annual charity concerts, is the centre of his activities.
Conviction could have brought a sentence of up to three years in prison. Prosecutors had sought conviction and a sentence of one and a half years.
Pavarotti last year agreed to pay the Italian government more than 24 billion lire (£7.6 million) in back taxes and penalties on civil tax evasion charges stemming from those same years.
PA