Arizona Tax Research Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860003960
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
6022539121
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$601,966
Expenses
$540,430
Assets
$240,626
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

54 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kevin McCarthy (President)
  • Jennifer Stielow (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kevin McCarthy (President): $195,000 total reported compensation
  • Jennifer Stielow (Vice President): $132,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Protect taxpayers from unnecssary taxes and promote the efficent use of taxpayers dollars. Promote government which is open and accountable to the state's taxpayers. Educate Arizona's taxpayers about important fiscal issues.

What it reported doing in 2025

Legislation - Reviews bills filed at state legislature, analyze those that affect contitutional levy and expenditure limits and reports findings to members and legislature through the newsletter and reports.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50.5%; rating input score 51
  • Program expense ratio: 56.3%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.2%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 60.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50.5% of revenue deployed · 56.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 51 of 51 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $304K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 54 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 51/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.