Income Tax Act 2007 section 418

Restrictions on associated benefits

Section 418 sets out the limits on the value of benefits a donor may receive in connection with a Gift Aid donation, and the circumstances in which those limits are breached.

• A Gift Aid donation fails the benefit test if the value of benefits received exceeds a sliding scale: 25% of gifts of £100 or less, or £25 plus 5% of the amount over £100 for larger gifts (the "per gift" test).
• There is also an annual cap: the total value of benefits linked to all qualifying donations made by the same donor to the same charity in the tax year must not exceed £2,500 (the "per year" test).
• A "relevant prior gift" is any earlier qualifying donation already made by the same individual to the same charity in the same tax year — these are aggregated for the annual cap.
• Certain benefits consisting of rights of admission are excluded from both tests under separate provisions in sections 419 to 421.