Paulo Teixeira responds to actress: 'tax evasion is corruption'

247 - Federal deputy Paulo Teixeira (PT-SP) used his Facebook page to mock the recent controversy involving actress Thaila Ayala, who, earlier this week, complained about being stopped by the Federal Revenue Service at a Brazilian airport.

"After being forced to pay taxes on undeclared goods, an actress stopped by the Federal Revenue Service warned that she had returned to Brazil, but is 'desperate to leave because it's a country of so much injustice!' I think in this case she wasn't referring to the social injustices that are being fought against," the Workers' Party member wrote about the case.

"It is necessary to clarify that tax evasion and fraud against the Internal Revenue Service are serious offenses and also represent forms of corruption. It is estimated that Brazil fails to collect 500 billion reais per year due to tax evasion, placing the country second among the world's biggest tax evaders. This amount is seven times greater than the average annual cost of corruption," he added.

In addition to the text, Teixeira published a comic strip that supposedly illustrated the situation Ayala went through. "We need to combat all forms of corruption to move towards the better country we want. Corrupt individuals, those who bribe, and tax evaders should not be tolerated," he said.

The controversy with the actress occurred when, upon arriving in Brazil from an international trip, she was stopped for carrying a computer that was not properly declared and was forced to pay an additional fee. She became outraged and said that Brazil was a "shitty country".