Spanish government slams PM-candidate Diaz’s universal inheritance proposal

The proposal for a “universal inheritance” of €20,000 for every citizen who turns 18 presented by Yolanda Díaz, Spain’s Labour Minister and candidate for Prime Minister with the progressive platform Sumar, is “irresponsible”, the government said on Monday.

Díaz first mentioned the idea on Sunday, though her campaign spokesman for the general elections, MEP Ernest Urtasun, went into more detail Monday.

Under the proposal, Spanish citizens would receive €20,000 once they turn 18 and would have to pay back that sum when they reach the age of 23.

To implement this, €10 billion would have to be collected from a tax on large fortunes, according to the “universal inheritance” plan proposed by Díaz – now Minister for Unidas Podemos (EU Left).

With this measure, Sumar seeks to “guarantee equal opportunities”, Urtasun added.

However, the proposal would only see the light of day if Sumar wins the elections on 23 July or if the party forges an alliance to govern together with the socialist party (PSOE).

Yet, the latest polls still put the centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP) in the lead with 31%, a fresh 40Db poll for El País and radio station Cadena SER released Monday reads.

At the same time, the poll also points to a rise of 1.3 percentage points for PSOE (29%), while far-right party VOX(ECR) retains its third place with 15% and Sumar drops to 13%.

The initiative is “a right that would be acquired at the age of 18 and would become effective at 23” – a period during which the beneficiary would be offered “administrative support” to “develop a project with this money”, said Urtasun, noting that the project could be of three types: “labour insertion”, “entrepreneurship” or “training”, the Spanish MEP explained.

An ‘irresponsible’ proposal?

For now, however, there is currently no limit as to who would benefit from the €20,000, said Sumar, which noted that the sum could be received without the need to meet income requirements or objectives linked to the project undertaken.

Yet, this is precisely one of the bones of contention between Díaz and Economy Minister Nadia Calviño (PSOE/S&D), who in an interview aired Monday morning by public broadcaster RTVE called Sumar´s idea “irresponsible”.

“Anyone who proposes measures that consist of giving subsidies, aid, like this, without any kind of restriction, or income level, or a specific objective, has to explain how they would finance it, because in the coming years we have to continue with a responsible fiscal policy,” Calviño stressed.

The minister recalled that in the last five years, the progressive government of PSOE and Unidas Podemos has carried out a policy that “works” and that is making it possible to help families and companies that need it, but at the same time, has put in place measures to reduce debt and deficit, “which is also very important for future generations”.

Financed by a new tax on large fortunes

The “universal inheritance” would not be retroactive and only benefit those who reach the age of 18 after the measure has been approved, Urtasun added.

According to Sumar’s calculations, it would cost around €10 billion, equivalent to “approximately 0.8% of Spain’s GDP”, and would be financed “through a tax on large fortunes”.

Sumar’s campaign spokesman defended the new tax by claiming that “60% of the wealth in Spain today is inherited”, and added that the initiative “is not very different” to public health or education, which are also “universal rights”.

However, compared to public health or education, which is financed through “progressive taxation”, the “universal inheritance” project is to be financed by taxing “large fortunes”, he explained.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)