Better Taxes Action Fund (BTAF)

Background

The Better Taxes Action Fund is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit managed by left-of-center philanthropic consultancy Arabella Advisors. ¹

BTBA’s sister group is Better Taxes for a Better America (BTBA), a 501(c)(3) fiscally sponsored by the Hopewell Fund, a charitable advocacy fund managed by Arabella Advisors. ²

Goals

Through Better Taxes for a Better America, the Better Taxes Action Fund asserts that the current American tax code benefits “the interests of a powerful and wealthy few at the expense of everyone else.” It argues the tax code is set up to “deliberately [starve] the public of the resources needed to properly invest in our communities,” which, among other problems, causes “deepening racial disparities.” ³

BTAF and BTBA aim to increase tax revenue to combat climate change, fund government-provided childcare, increase education spending, provide healthcare, and maintain infrastructure. ³

BTAF and BTBA supports establishing a billionaire minimum income tax and a permanent child tax credit. ⁴

BTAF and BTBA’s 2024 and 2026 priorities include increasing taxation on high net-worth individuals, increasing taxes on corporations, and increasing tax credits for low-income earners. ³

Activity

The Better Taxes Action Fund’s website is a copy of Better Taxes for a Better America’s website with substantially less information, including no reference to personnel. Sarah Pray, formerly of the Open Society Foundations, is listed as BTBA’s executive director. ^{5 6}

BTBA’s document outlining its goals for 2024 through 2026 include impacting the 2024 election through BTAF and increasing the “lobbying capacity” of BTAF. ³