3.26.1 Gift Aid only applies to unfettered gifts to a charity for its charitable purposes. Donors earmarking money for the support of relatives are, in principle, no different from those generally making payments to support other relatives, for whatever reason. These are not eligible for tax relief. Once a Gift Aid payment has been received it’s for the charity to show that its income has been applied for charitable purposes only. Gifts given on condition, rather than hope or expectation, that they’ll be used to feed and clothe a relative are likely to breach the benefits rules for Gift Aid. 3.26.2 HMRC takes the view that donations to cover the costs incurred by a charity such as a missionary society in supporting the relative of the donor, as a missionary, can qualify under the Gift Aid Scheme provided the missionary society is not merely channelling a donation to the donor’s relative. Where, for example, a missionary society says to its workers ‘It costs us £10,000 a year to support you while you carry out your charitable work. We look to you to raise at least this amount of funds for the society through donations from family, the donations may qualify under the Gift Aid Scheme. Where, on the other hand, a missionary society says to its missionaries ‘It is up to you to support yourself while you carry out your charitable work, with the help of your family. If your family wishes to send you money they can do so via the Society’ payments will not qualify under the Gift Aid Scheme. 3.26.3 This situation equally applies where a church, for example, supports the charitable work of a Christian worker. The Christian worker is unlikely to be in the employment of the Church and so the onus in demonstrating that payments made to particular individuals are unfettered and only applied for charitable purposes falls to the trustees of the church.