The "basic" part is an accounting technicality. Everyone entitled to the benefit gets the basic income, but it's taxed away from those who earn enough. This is

The "basic" part is an accounting technicality. Everyone entitled to the benefit gets the basic income, but it's taxed away from those who earn enough. This is in contrast to traditional welfare benefits, which you only get if you apply for them. There are also basic income proposals without the "universal" part. For example, only those who work get the basic income. (This is often called negative income tax.) This is supposed to give those in necessary but low-paying jobs a fairer share of wealth than what the market would give. I've never heard of anything called "universal income".