Department of Government Ethics

The major difference between bribe and gift is in the counter value between the given property and the duty of the public official. If the property is given under general social appointment and not related to the duty of the public official, then it is a gift, not a bribe. They can also be divided according to the relationship between the person sending the property and the public official, the correspondent position between the two, the source of the money needed for buying the property, and so on.