Renzi: "The left scored an own goal on the wealth tax, but Meloni raised taxes."

Matteo Renzi also weighed in on the wealth tax debate, fueled by a long-distance exchange between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Democratic Party secretary Elly Schlein . "The wealth tax is Meloni's media masterpiece and yet another media own goal for the center-left. Pay close attention. Giorgia Meloni has dramatically increased taxes. The tax burden in 2026 will be 42.8%, up from recent years. So the opposition could have an easy time today and press Meloni to account for the fact that the right-wing government has higher taxes," the leader of the Italian Left (IV) commented. "But they're not doing so because a segment of the left, instead of calling for lower taxes, is relaunching the wealth tax. It doesn't matter what the motivations are: what matters is that at that point Meloni comes out of the corner and goes on the attack, saying: as long as we're in government, there's no wealth tax."

"The woman who raised taxes," he adds, "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. The same goes for Brunetta yesterday: the woman who returned money and power to the National Council of Economic and Social Councils (CNEL) pretends to be the moralizer who reduces salaries, when she's the one who raised them. This isn't a question of individual choices: it's the ABCs of communication. The more you talk about wealth tax, the more you give a gift to the government that has increased taxes more than anyone else. It's called an own goal. And with own goals, you lose games."

Today, Meloni reiterated on social media that "with the right in government, the wealth taxes that cyclically reappear in the left's proposals will never see the light of day." "The prime minister has no nerve attacking us," the Democratic Party leader replied. "With Giorgia Meloni in government, the tax burden has risen to 42.8%, the highest in the last ten years. This is what the government's data says, not the Democratic Party's. The Meloni government raised taxes for everyone. Her government will be remembered as the one that bled Italian families and businesses and provided aid to the richest."