Its stated mission is to "improve lives through tax policy research and education that leads to greater economic growth and opportunity".

[8] The Tax Foundation was organized on December 5, 1937, in New York City by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., Chairman of the General Motors Corporation; Donaldson Brown, GM Financial Vice President; William S. Farish, President of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (Exxon); and Lewis H. Brown, President of Johns-Manville Corporation, who later became the first chairman of the board of The Tax Foundation.

[9] The organization's stated goal was "to monitor the tax and spending policies of government agencies".

[10] By 1943, the Tax Foundation had helped set up taxpayers associations and expenditure councils in 35 states.

[10] During World War II, Tax Foundation research emphasized restraining government spending domestically to finance wartime expenditures.

[10] Beginning in 1990, the Tax Foundation "operate[d] as a separate unit" of Citizens for a Sound Economy.

[36][37][38][39] As of 2023, the organization's board of directors consists of David P. Lewis (chairman), James W. Lintott (treasurer), Bill Archer, Philip English, Dennis Groth, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Stephen Kranz, Sarah McGill, Pamela F. Olson, and Tom Roesser.

[70] Krugman has also accused the Tax Foundation of "deliberate fraud" in connection with a report it issued concerning the American Jobs Act.