Giving money to the government is the same thing as giving it to the wealthy. Example: trillions of dollars in student loans have been captured by private education.
The depends - in some cases, there are very entrenched rents that mean money that should go to the people actually go to the wealthy. Like US healthcare, or US education or actual rents. And of course, some times the money goes to the wealthy immediately - like when it's spent on missiles that murder people on other continents.
But some parts of the world can somehow make things like healthcare and education rent-free - spent money actually help people and not just add to endless dragon hoards. It's a long uphill battle of course, but it's possible.
EDIT: this is why I think UBI is unfeasible without bigger societal changes - it would end up just subsidising the landlords.
