CENTER FOR A FREE ECONOMY: Form 990, tax year 2023

View the entire original 990 at ProPublica ↗

Organization: CENTER FOR A FREE ECONOMY (EIN 83-1471221)
Tax period: 2023-01-01 to 2023-12-31
Filed: 2024-11-10
IRS object ID: 202433159349300248
Schema version: 2023v5.1
Source: Download XML · Original 990 at ProPublica

Every field in the e-filed return. Faint text is the IRS element name, for citing.

Return header
Form 990
Schedule B
Schedule D
Schedule I
Schedule O

Return header ReturnHeader

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Return	2024-11-10T19:29:35-05:00	ReturnTs
Tax Period End	2023-12-31	TaxPeriodEndDt

Preparer Firm PreparerFirmGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Preparer Firm EIN	201764567	PreparerFirmEIN

Preparer Firm Name PreparerFirmName

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Business Name Line1	Ryan Ellis LLC	BusinessNameLine1Txt

Preparer US Address PreparerUSAddress

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Address Line1	1605 STONEBRIDGE RD	AddressLine1Txt
City	Alexandria	CityNm
State Abbreviation	VA	StateAbbreviationCd
ZIP	22304	ZIPCd

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Return Type	990	ReturnTypeCd
Tax Period Begin	2023-01-01	TaxPeriodBeginDt

Filer Filer

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
EIN	831471221	EIN

Business Name BusinessName

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Business Name Line1	CENTER FOR A FREE ECONOMY INC	BusinessNameLine1Txt

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Business Name Control	CENT	BusinessNameControlTxt

US Address USAddress

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Address Line1	1605 STONEBRIDGE ROAD	AddressLine1Txt
City	Alexandria	CityNm
State Abbreviation	VA	StateAbbreviationCd
ZIP	22304	ZIPCd

Business Officer BusinessOfficerGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Person	RYAN ELLIS	PersonNm
Person Title	PRESIDENT	PersonTitleTxt
Phone	2023906729	PhoneNum
Signature	2024-04-10	SignatureDt
Discuss With Paid Preparer	Yes (true)	DiscussWithPaidPreparerInd

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
IRS Responsible Prty Info Curr	Yes (true)	IRSResponsiblePrtyInfoCurrInd

Preparer Person PreparerPersonGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Preparer Person	Ryan Ellis	PreparerPersonNm
PTIN	P00371811	PTIN
Phone	2023906729	PhoneNum
Preparation	2024-11-10	PreparationDt

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Tax	2023	TaxYr
Build TS	2024-10-15 13:58:12Z	BuildTS

Form 990 IRS990

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Principal Officer	RYAN ELLIS	PrincipalOfficerNm
Gross Receipts	$1,174,600	GrossReceiptsAmt
Group Return For Affiliates	false	GroupReturnForAffiliatesInd
Organization501c	Yes (X)	Organization501cInd
Website Address	https://centerfreeeconomy.org/	WebsiteAddressTxt
Type Of Organization Corp	Yes (X)	TypeOfOrganizationCorpInd
Formation	2018	FormationYr
Legal Domicile State	VA	LegalDomicileStateCd
Activity Or Mission	TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC AND POLICYMAKERS ABOUT TAX POLICY, HEALTH CARE POLICY, TRADE POLICY, AND OTHER ISSUES RELATED TO ECONOMIC POLICY	ActivityOrMissionDesc
Voting Members Governing Body	3	VotingMembersGoverningBodyCnt
Voting Members Independent	2	VotingMembersIndependentCnt
Total Employee	0	TotalEmployeeCnt
Total Gross UBI	$0	TotalGrossUBIAmt
Net Unrelated Bus Txbl Incm	$0	NetUnrelatedBusTxblIncmAmt
PY Contributions Grants	$538,000	PYContributionsGrantsAmt
CY Contributions Grants	$1,163,077	CYContributionsGrantsAmt
CY Program Service Revenue	$0	CYProgramServiceRevenueAmt
PY Investment Income	$212	PYInvestmentIncomeAmt
CY Investment Income	$11,523	CYInvestmentIncomeAmt
CY Other Revenue	$0	CYOtherRevenueAmt
PY Total Revenue	$538,212	PYTotalRevenueAmt
CY Total Revenue	$1,174,600	CYTotalRevenueAmt
PY Grants And Similar Paid	$161,000	PYGrantsAndSimilarPaidAmt
CY Grants And Similar Paid	$341,000	CYGrantsAndSimilarPaidAmt
CY Benefits Paid To Members	$0	CYBenefitsPaidToMembersAmt
CY Salaries Comp Emp Bnft Paid	$0	CYSalariesCompEmpBnftPaidAmt
CY Total Prof Fndrsng Expns	$0	CYTotalProfFndrsngExpnsAmt
CY Total Fundraising Expense	$0	CYTotalFundraisingExpenseAmt
PY Other Expenses	$366,536	PYOtherExpensesAmt
CY Other Expenses	$632,012	CYOtherExpensesAmt
PY Total Expenses	$527,536	PYTotalExpensesAmt
CY Total Expenses	$973,012	CYTotalExpensesAmt
PY Revenues Less Expenses	$10,676	PYRevenuesLessExpensesAmt
CY Revenues Less Expenses	$201,588	CYRevenuesLessExpensesAmt
Total Assets BOY	$621,864	TotalAssetsBOYAmt
Total Assets EOY	$823,452	TotalAssetsEOYAmt
Total Liabilities BOY	$134,500	TotalLiabilitiesBOYAmt
Total Liabilities EOY	$134,500	TotalLiabilitiesEOYAmt
Net Assets Or Fund Balances BOY	$487,364	NetAssetsOrFundBalancesBOYAmt
Net Assets Or Fund Balances EOY	$688,952	NetAssetsOrFundBalancesEOYAmt
Mission	TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC AND POLICYMAKERS ABOUT TAX POLICY, HEALTH CARE POLICY, TRADE POLICY, AND OTHER ISSUES RELATED TO ECONOMIC POLICY	MissionDesc
Significant New Program Srvc	false	SignificantNewProgramSrvcInd
Significant Change	false	SignificantChangeInd
Expense	$632,012	ExpenseAmt
Desc	DIRECT EDUCATIONAL ADVOCACY TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON ISSUES RELATED TO EXEMPT PURPOSES	Desc

Prog Srvc Accom Acty2 ProgSrvcAccomActy2Grp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Expense	$341,000	ExpenseAmt
Grant	$341,000	GrantAmt
Desc	GRANTS MADE TO CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS TO ADVANCE OUR EXEMPT POLICY GOALS	Desc

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total Program Service Expenses	$973,012	TotalProgramServiceExpensesAmt
Described In Section501c3	false	DescribedInSection501c3Ind
Schedule B Required	Yes (true)	ScheduleBRequiredInd
Political Campaign Acty	false	PoliticalCampaignActyInd
Subject To Proxy Tax	false	SubjectToProxyTaxInd
Donor Advised Fund	false	DonorAdvisedFundInd
Conservation Easements	false	ConservationEasementsInd
Collections Of Art	false	CollectionsOfArtInd
Credit Counseling	false	CreditCounselingInd
Donor Rstr Or Quasi Endowments	false	DonorRstrOrQuasiEndowmentsInd
Report Land Building Equipment	false	ReportLandBuildingEquipmentInd
Report Investments Other Sec	false	ReportInvestmentsOtherSecInd
Report Program Related Invst	false	ReportProgramRelatedInvstInd
Report Other Assets	false	ReportOtherAssetsInd
Report Other Liabilities	false	ReportOtherLiabilitiesInd
Include FIN48 Footnote	false	IncludeFIN48FootnoteInd
Independent Audit Fincl Stmt	false	IndependentAuditFinclStmtInd
Consolidated Audit Fincl Stmt	false	ConsolidatedAuditFinclStmtInd
School Operating	false	SchoolOperatingInd
Foreign Office	false	ForeignOfficeInd
Foreign Activities	false	ForeignActivitiesInd
More Than5000 K To Org	false	MoreThan5000KToOrgInd
More Than5000 K To Individuals	false	MoreThan5000KToIndividualsInd
Professional Fundraising	false	ProfessionalFundraisingInd
Fundraising Activities	false	FundraisingActivitiesInd
Gaming Activities	false	GamingActivitiesInd
Operate Hospital	false	OperateHospitalInd
Grants To Organizations	Yes (true)	GrantsToOrganizationsInd
Grants To Individuals	false	GrantsToIndividualsInd
Schedule J Required	false	ScheduleJRequiredInd
Tax Exempt Bonds	false	TaxExemptBondsInd
Engaged In Excess Benefit Trans	false	EngagedInExcessBenefitTransInd
PY Excess Benefit Trans	false	PYExcessBenefitTransInd
Loan Outstanding	false	LoanOutstandingInd
Grant To Related Person	false	GrantToRelatedPersonInd
Business Rln With Org Mem	false	BusinessRlnWithOrgMemInd
Business Rln With Fam Mem	false	BusinessRlnWithFamMemInd
Business Rln With35 Ctrl Ent	false	BusinessRlnWith35CtrlEntInd
Deductible Non Cash Contri	false	DeductibleNonCashContriInd
Deductible Art Contribution	false	DeductibleArtContributionInd
Terminate Operations	false	TerminateOperationsInd
Partial Liquidation	false	PartialLiquidationInd
Disregarded Entity	false	DisregardedEntityInd
Related Entity	false	RelatedEntityInd
Related Organization Ctrl Ent	false	RelatedOrganizationCtrlEntInd
Transaction With Control Ent	false	TransactionWithControlEntInd
Activities Conducted Prtshp	false	ActivitiesConductedPrtshpInd
Schedule O Required	Yes (true)	ScheduleORequiredInd
IRP Document	0	IRPDocumentCnt
IRP Document W2 G	0	IRPDocumentW2GCnt
Backup Wthld Compliance	Yes (true)	BackupWthldComplianceInd
Employee	0	EmployeeCnt
Unrelated Bus Incm Over Limit	false	UnrelatedBusIncmOverLimitInd
Foreign Financial Account	false	ForeignFinancialAccountInd
Prohibited Tax Shelter Trans	false	ProhibitedTaxShelterTransInd
Taxable Party Notification	false	TaxablePartyNotificationInd
Nondeductible Contributions	Yes (true)	NondeductibleContributionsInd
Nondeductible Contri Discl	Yes (true)	NondeductibleContriDisclInd
Indoor Tanning Services	false	IndoorTanningServicesInd
Subj To Tax Rmnrtn Ex Prcht Pymt	false	SubjToTaxRmnrtnExPrchtPymtInd
Subject To Excs Tax Net Invst Inc	false	SubjectToExcsTaxNetInvstIncInd
Info In Schedule O Part VI	Yes (X)	InfoInScheduleOPartVIInd
Governing Body Voting Members	3	GoverningBodyVotingMembersCnt
Independent Voting Member	2	IndependentVotingMemberCnt
Family Or Business Rln	false	FamilyOrBusinessRlnInd
Delegation Of Mgmt Duties	false	DelegationOfMgmtDutiesInd
Change To Org Documents	false	ChangeToOrgDocumentsInd
Material Diversion Or Misuse	false	MaterialDiversionOrMisuseInd
Members Or Stockholders	false	MembersOrStockholdersInd
Election Of Board Members	false	ElectionOfBoardMembersInd
Decisions Subject To Approva	false	DecisionsSubjectToApprovaInd
Minutes Of Governing Body	Yes (true)	MinutesOfGoverningBodyInd
Minutes Of Committees	Yes (true)	MinutesOfCommitteesInd
Officer Mailing Address	false	OfficerMailingAddressInd
Local Chapters	false	LocalChaptersInd
Form990 Provided To Gvrn Body	false	Form990ProvidedToGvrnBodyInd
Conflict Of Interest Policy	false	ConflictOfInterestPolicyInd
Whistleblower Policy	false	WhistleblowerPolicyInd
Document Retention Policy	false	DocumentRetentionPolicyInd
Compensation Process CEO	false	CompensationProcessCEOInd
Compensation Process Other	false	CompensationProcessOtherInd
Investment In Joint Venture	false	InvestmentInJointVentureInd
Other	Yes (X)	OtherInd

Books In Care Of Detail BooksInCareOfDetail

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Person	RYAN ELLIS	PersonNm
Phone	2023096729	PhoneNum

US Address USAddress

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Address Line1	1605 STONEBRIDGE ROAD	AddressLine1Txt
City	Alexandria	CityNm
State Abbreviation	VA	StateAbbreviationCd
ZIP	22304	ZIPCd

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
No Listed Persons Compensated	Yes (X)	NoListedPersonsCompensatedInd

Form990 Part VII Section A Form990PartVIISectionAGrp (3 entries)

TitleTitleTxt	Average Hours Per WeekAverageHoursPerWeekRt	Average Hours Per Week Rltd OrgAverageHoursPerWeekRltdOrgRt	Individual Trustee Or DirectorIndividualTrusteeOrDirectorInd	Reportable Comp From OrgReportableCompFromOrgAmt	Reportable Comp From Rltd OrgReportableCompFromRltdOrgAmt	Other CompensationOtherCompensationAmt	OfficerOfficerInd
ALEX HENDRIE
BOARD MEMBER	0.00	0.00	Yes (X)	$0	$0	$0
PALMER SCHOENING
BOARD MEMBER	0.00	0.00	Yes (X)	$0	$0	$0
RYAN ELLIS
PRESIDENT	10.00	0.00	Yes (X)	$0	$0	$0	Yes (X)

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total Reportable Comp From Org	$0	TotalReportableCompFromOrgAmt
Tot Reportable Comp Rltd Org	$0	TotReportableCompRltdOrgAmt
Total Other Compensation	$0	TotalOtherCompensationAmt
Indiv Rcvd Greater Than100 K	0	IndivRcvdGreaterThan100KCnt
Former Ofcr Employees Listed	false	FormerOfcrEmployeesListedInd
Total Comp Greater Than150 K	false	TotalCompGreaterThan150KInd
Compensation From Other Srcs	false	CompensationFromOtherSrcsInd
All Other Contributions	$1,163,077	AllOtherContributionsAmt
Total Contributions	$1,163,077	TotalContributionsAmt

Investment Income InvestmentIncomeGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total Revenue Column	$11,523	TotalRevenueColumnAmt
Exclusion	$11,523	ExclusionAmt

Total Revenue TotalRevenueGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total Revenue Column	$1,174,600	TotalRevenueColumnAmt
Related Or Exempt Func Income	$0	RelatedOrExemptFuncIncomeAmt
Unrelated Business Revenue	$0	UnrelatedBusinessRevenueAmt
Exclusion	$11,523	ExclusionAmt

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Info In Schedule O Part IX	Yes (X)	InfoInScheduleOPartIXInd

Grants To Domestic Orgs GrantsToDomesticOrgsGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$341,000	TotalAmt
Program Services	$341,000	ProgramServicesAmt

Fees For Services Legal FeesForServicesLegalGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$3,175	TotalAmt
Program Services	$3,175	ProgramServicesAmt

Fees For Services Lobbying FeesForServicesLobbyingGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$75,000	TotalAmt
Program Services	$75,000	ProgramServicesAmt

Occupancy OccupancyGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$12,000	TotalAmt
Program Services	$12,000	ProgramServicesAmt

Travel TravelGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$5,000	TotalAmt
Program Services	$5,000	ProgramServicesAmt

Interest InterestGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$7,200	TotalAmt
Program Services	$7,200	ProgramServicesAmt

Other Expenses OtherExpensesGrp (3 entries)

DescDesc	TotalTotalAmt	Program ServicesProgramServicesAmt
FILING AND REGISTRATION	$1,211	$1,211
EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY	$528,366	$528,366
BANK FEES	$60	$60

Total Functional Expenses TotalFunctionalExpensesGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total	$973,012	TotalAmt
Program Services	$973,012	ProgramServicesAmt
Management And General	$0	ManagementAndGeneralAmt
Fundraising	$0	FundraisingAmt

Cash Non Interest Bearing CashNonInterestBearingGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$91,560	BOYAmt
EOY	$151,893	EOYAmt

Savings And Temp Cash Invst SavingsAndTempCashInvstGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$520,304	BOYAmt
EOY	$152	EOYAmt

Investments Pub Traded Sec InvestmentsPubTradedSecGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
EOY	$661,407	EOYAmt

Other Assets Total OtherAssetsTotalGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$10,000	BOYAmt
EOY	$10,000	EOYAmt

Total Assets TotalAssetsGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$621,864	BOYAmt
EOY	$823,452	EOYAmt

Unsecured Notes Loans Payable UnsecuredNotesLoansPayableGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$134,500	BOYAmt
EOY	$134,500	EOYAmt

Total Liabilities TotalLiabilitiesGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$134,500	BOYAmt
EOY	$134,500	EOYAmt

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Org Does Not Follow FASB117	Yes (X)	OrgDoesNotFollowFASB117Ind

Rtn Earn Endowment Incm Oth Fnds RtnEarnEndowmentIncmOthFndsGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$487,364	BOYAmt
EOY	$688,952	EOYAmt

Total Net Assets Fund Balance TotalNetAssetsFundBalanceGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$487,364	BOYAmt
EOY	$688,952	EOYAmt

Tot Liab Net Assets Fund Balance TotLiabNetAssetsFundBalanceGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
BOY	$621,864	BOYAmt
EOY	$823,452	EOYAmt

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Reconcilation Revenue Expnss	$201,588	ReconcilationRevenueExpnssAmt
Other Changes In Net Assets	$0	OtherChangesInNetAssetsAmt
Method Of Accounting Cash	Yes (X)	MethodOfAccountingCashInd
Accountant Compile Or Review	false	AccountantCompileOrReviewInd
FS Audited	false	FSAuditedInd
Federal Grant Audit Required	false	FederalGrantAuditRequiredInd

Schedule B IRS990ScheduleB

Contributor Information ContributorInformationGrp

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Contributor	RESTRICTED	ContributorNum

Contributor Business Name ContributorBusinessName

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Business Name Line1	RESTRICTED	BusinessNameLine1

Contributor US Address ContributorUSAddress

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Address Line1	RESTRICTED	AddressLine1
Address Line2	RESTRICTED	AddressLine2
City	RESTRICTED	City
State	RESTRICTED	State
ZIP Code	RESTRICTED	ZIPCode

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Total Contributions	RESTRICTED	TotalContributionsAmt

Schedule D IRS990ScheduleD

Schedule I IRS990ScheduleI

Field	Value	IRS element (for citing)
Grant Records Maintained	Yes (true)	GrantRecordsMaintainedInd

Recipient Table RecipientTable (4 entries)

Address Line1USAddress/AddressLine1Txt	CityUSAddress/CityNm	State AbbreviationUSAddress/StateAbbreviationCd	ZIPUSAddress/ZIPCd	Recipient EINRecipientEIN	IRC SectionIRCSectionDesc	Cash GrantCashGrantAmt
AMERICANS FOR TAX REFORM
722 12TH STREET NW 4TH FLOOR	Washington	DC	20005	521403587	501C4	$25,000
DONORS TRUST
1800 DIAGONAL STREET STE 280	Alexandria	VA	22314	131837418	501C4	$175,000
NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION
122 C St NW STE 700	Washington	DC	20001	521122683	501C4	$115,000
INDEPENDENT WOMENS VOICE
4 WEEMS LN	Winchester	VA	22601	364534086	501C4	$25,000

Schedule O IRS990ScheduleO

Supplemental Information Detail SupplementalInformationDetail (4 entries)

Form And Line ReferenceFormAndLineReferenceDesc	ExplanationExplanationTxt
Form 990 governing body review Part VI line 11	990 REVIEWED BY BOARD AT ANNUAL MEETING
Form 990 availability to public Part VI line 18	FORM 990 AVAILABLE CONSISTENT WITH IRS REQUIREMENTS
Governing documents etc available to public Part VI line 19	NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC
Part IX response or note to any line in Part IX	CENTER FOR A FREE ECONOMY IS NOT A MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION. IT CHARGES NO DUES. IT IS THEREFORE EXEMPT FROM ANY LOBBYING DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS UNDER IRC SECTION 6033(e)