Tax Foundation

Tax Foundation
Basic facts
Location:	Washington, D.C.
Type:	501(c)(3)
Affiliation:	Nonpartisan
Top official:	Daniel Bunn, president and CEO
Website:	Official website

The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C., that publishes research and data on tax issues. As of August 2025, the organization's website said their mission is "to improve lives through tax policies that lead to greater economic growth and opportunity."

Background

The Tax Foundation was founded in 1937 as a way to "monitor the tax and spending policies of government agencies.

The foundation lists four "Principles of Sound Tax Policy" as a way to structure their research. The principles, according to their website, are as follows:

• Simplicity: "Tax codes should be easy for taxpayers to comply with and for governments to administer and enforce."
• Transparency: "Tax policies should clearly and plainly define what taxpayers must pay and when they must pay it. Hiding tax burdens in complex structures should be avoided. Additionally, any changes to the tax code should be made with careful consideration, input, and open hearings."
• Neutrality: "Taxes should neither encourage nor discourage personal or business decisions. The purpose of taxes is to raise needed revenue, not to favor or punish specific industries, activities, and products. Minimizing tax preferences broadens the tax base, so that the government can raise sufficient revenue with lower rates."
• Stability: "Taxpayers deserve consistency and predictability in the tax code. Governments should avoid enacting temporary tax laws, including tax holidays, amnesties, and retroactive changes, and strive to establish stable revenue sources."

Leadership

As of August 2025, Daniel Bunn was president and CEO of the Tax Foundation.

As of August 2025, the following individuals were on the board of directors for the Tax Foundation:

• David P. Lewis, Chairman
• James W. Lintott, Treasurer
• Kevin Brady
• Phil Bullock
• Philip English
• Tadd Fowler
• Dennis Groth
• Douglas Holtz-Eakin
• Stephen Kranz
• Kurt Lamp
• Loren Ponds
• Pamela Olson
• Tom Roesser

Work and activities

Research and policy activities

The foundation runs three main programs: the Center for Federal Tax Policy, the Center for State Tax Policy and the Center for Global Tax Policy.

In addition, the Tax Foundation collects and publishes data at the federal, state, and global level regarding taxation. They also publish a glossary of common tax-related terms, hold educational events for lawmakers and publish a blog with commentaries on tax issues.

The Center for Federal Tax Policy

The Center for Federal Tax Policy has a number of initiatives that aim to "help us educate taxpayers, journalists, and policymakers on how the U.S. tax system works and the impact of federal tax changes on taxpayers and the economy." The center uses its Taxes and Growth modelling to analyze "dozens of legislative and campaign tax proposals." That includes every major tax plan proposed during the 2016 presidential campaign. The center also analyzes major tax proposals in Congress, such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

The Center for State Tax Policy

The Center for State Tax Policy researches and compiles data that measures the impact of state taxes and fiscal issues, including income tax rates, corporate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes and property taxes. The mission of the center is to "promote tax and fiscal policy that leads to higher economic growth and improved quality of life for taxpayers throughout the US states." The center produces an annual State Tax Competitiveness Index that compares tax policies by state.

Center for Global Tax Policy

The Center for Global Tax Policy aims "to promote tax and fiscal policy that leads to higher economic growth and improved quality of life for taxpayers throughout the world." It publishes an annual International Tax Competitiveness Index, which compares corporate tax rates around the world, as well as other reports throughout the year.

2016 presidential elections

The foundation provided analyses for the 2016 presidential candidate's proposed tax reforms. The assessments are broken down by candidate and by tax type, including income tax, itemized deductions, tax credits, alternative minimum tax, payroll taxes, corporate income tax, and the estate tax.

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.

Finances

The following is a breakdown of the Tax Foundation's revenue and expenditures for the 2019-2022 fiscal years, as reported to the IRS.

Annual revenue and expenses for the Tax Foundation, 2019–2022

Tax Year	Total Revenue	Total Expenses
2022	$6,768,789	$5,840,958
2021	$6,514,082	$5,702,477
2020	$5,633,682	$4,747,961
2019	$5,128,334	$5,810,689

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Tax Foundation. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Tax Foundation - Google News

See also

• What is an influencer?
• 501(c)(3)

External links

• Tax Foundation