Charity dinners - part 2

The main principles in ensuring that a charitable dinner is run in the most tax efficient manner were dealt with in the first part of this article 'Gala dinner for 1 200? £25 million' (see Related Links). However the tax position can become more complicated particularly in the situation which has become very common of free tickets being provided.

Free tickets

The examples below set out the potential tax ramifications where free tickets are given in return for donations or advertising.

As part of the extensive work that we conducted with HMRC on these matters it became clear that HMRC are wary of such situations and generally want this practice to be discouraged. It is recognised however that this remains an effective way to raise money when organising events.

Example 1

Charitable trust A makes a brochure donation to another charity hosting an event. The charity...