The Center for Freedom and Prosperity (CFP or CF&P) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for
flat tax
A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressiv ...
es, territorial taxation systems, and offshore tax havens. The organization and its subsidiary, Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (a tax-exempt organization), publish studies and conduct seminars analyzing the benefits of jurisdictional
tax competition
Tax competition, a form of regulatory competition, exists when governments use reductions in fiscal burdens to encourage the inflow of productive resources or to discourage the exodus of those resources. Often, this means a governmental strategy ...
, financial privacy and fiscal sovereignty.
Background
The stated objectives of the CFP are:
* Thwarting the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)'s attempts to create a cartel of high-tax nations – arguing that tax competition should be celebrated, not persecuted, and advocating that high tax regimes should not be able to shield themselves from
globalisation
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
.
* Protecting world commerce and open trade – it asserts that discriminatory financial protectionism against low-tax nations is a bad idea in principle and should be stopped.
* Preserving the ability of sovereign jurisdictions to determine their own tax policy – they oppose high-tax nations trying to export their tax laws to other nations, in effect trying to turn them into adjunct tax collectors, and the OECD trying to dictate tax policy in low-tax jurisdictions.
* Resisting the
Financial Action Task Force
The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, ''Groupe d'action financière'' (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat m ...
's (FATF) attempts to restrict financial privacy. Whilst the CFP states that it supports laws against criminals and the proceeds of crime, respect for Constitutional freedoms and civil liberties should not be abandoned. Nor, they advocate, should concerns about
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
be allowed to serve as a
stalking horse
A stalking horse is a figure used to test a concept or mount a challenge on behalf of an anonymous third party. If the idea proves viable or popular, the anonymous third party can then declare its interest and advance the concept with little risk o ...
for tax collectors.
Daniel J. Mitchell has described the OECD as "a bunch of crazy European socialists".
Collaborations
In 2012, Mitchell’s colleague Andy Quinlan offered to brief Jennifer Mossack, working at
Mossack Fonseca
Mossack Fonseca & Co. () was a Panamanian law firm and Corporate services, corporate service provider.
National Center for Charitable Statistics
The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house for information about the nonprofit sector of the U.S. economy. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops st ...
(
Urban Institute
The Urban Institute is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions". The institute receives funding from government contracts, foundations and pr ...