With the right in government, there will be no wealth tax. Giorgia Meloni wrote it in black and white in a post on X. With just a few lines, the prime minister sends a clear message to a segment of the opposition and to Maurizio Landini. The CGIL leader had in fact proposed a tax on assets over two million euros. This new polemic adds to the one regarding the general strike over the budget and is just a foretaste of the clash that looms in Parliament over the budget law, now that the amendments are getting into the thick of things.
The wealth tax "is a cyclical proposal from the left," the Prime Minister attacks, sparking a reaction from the entire opposition, albeit with several distinctions. Indeed, the issue has been a hot topic for days, with differing opinions: AVS leaders are openly in favor of taxing large incomes, while Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein takes a different stance. The Democratic Party leader had, in fact, opened up to the idea, but spoke of a European tax. And perhaps it's no coincidence that in her response to Meloni, Schlein never uses the word wealth tax: "The Meloni government has raised taxes for everyone. And as if that weren't enough, in the next budget, it will intervene on personal income tax and again help the richest instead of the impoverished middle class." Then comes the most serious attack: "How can you wake up this morning and attack the opposition? Your government will be remembered as the one that bled Italian families and businesses and provided aid to the richest."
Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte, however, is opposed to a wealth tax. "It's not on the agenda," the former prime minister makes clear, then attacks the government, emphasizing that the "real wealth tax" was introduced by Meloni herself: "This is a government of taxes. It's been ten years now, and we have a record tax burden," which "has hit" especially "the middle class, completely impoverished, and the most vulnerable segments of the population. This is the real wealth tax; let's not distract citizens from the real problems."
The fact that the tax is sparking debate in the so-called broad field is demonstrated by the positions taken by AVS leaders, Nicola Fratoianni and Angelo Bonelli. The Green Party co-spokesperson accuses the prime minister of defending the "super-rich while abandoning the poor," while Fratoianni advocates for contributions from the wealthy: "The instrument can be discussed, the threshold can be set, the rate can be set, and regulatory technicalities can be addressed, but the urgent need to distribute wealth—this, at least to us at AVS, is absolutely clear."
The leader of the Italian Left (IV) party, Matteo Renzi, is warning the so-called progressive front against the wealth tax, branding this controversy "yet another media own goal for the left." Renzi argues that "the woman who raised taxes suddenly becomes the champion defending citizens from the tax-collecting state. And the left, which could gain consensus in the fight to lower taxes, finds itself stuck in the role of vampire." For +Europa secretary Riccardo Magi, the prime minister's words are merely "a weapon of mass distraction. Instead of explaining to Italians a failed budget law, the prime minister is running away and taking refuge in the usual electoral propaganda, throwing the ball into the stands. Let's not fall for this: Meloni should tell her voters that she has betrayed every promise she made during the election campaign."
(Unioneonline)
