Tax Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521703065
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024646200
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,746,689
Expenses
$9,094,340
Assets
$7,907,311
Liabilities
$3,064,686

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANIEL BUNN (PRESIDENT & CEO AND BOARD SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANIEL BUNN (PRESIDENT & CEO AND BOARD SECRETARY): $408,546 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM MCBRIDE (CHIEF ECONOMIST): $237,065 total reported compensation
  • ALAN COLE (SENIOR ECONOMIST): $186,293 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To improve lives through tax policies that lead to greater economic growth and opportunity.

What it reported doing in 2025

State tax policy - this program promotes state tax reform with comprehensive annual reports, research, policy analysis, and in-depth state-specific studies. In 2025, the foundation testified or presented to officialsvirtually and in-personin 35 states, met with in state groups or audiences in all 50 states and the district of columbia, and its flagship state tax competitiveness index (stci) was viewed nearly 471,000 times (a 172 percent increase over 2024). The foundation is often looked to by legislators, taxpayers, and the media (with 18,890 media citations in 2025) to recommend tax reform options or provide analysis of tax plans. The foundation's analysis, and studies such as the stci, inform the tax reform debate across the country and have been crucial to major tax changes in many states, and foundation experts have been a vital resource to policy makers and journalist as states navigate an increasingly mobile economy characterized by a greater focus on tax competitiveness.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.6% of revenue deployed · 71% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $409K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $841K reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 42 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.