ˈæft wʌz fˈaʊndᵻd ɪn nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd nˈaɪnti fˈoːɹ baɪ θɹˈiː hjˈuːstən bˈɪznəsmˌɛn, dʒˈæk tɹˈɑːɾɚ, bˈɑːb mək nˈɛɹ, ænd lˈiːoʊ lˈɪnbɛk, dʒˌeɪˈɑːɹ., hˌuː ˈiːtʃ plˈɛdʒd dˈɑːlɚ wˈʌn.fˈaɪv mˈɪliən æz sˈiːd mˈʌni tə hˈaɪɚ tˈæks ˈɛkspɜːts tʊ aɪdˈɛntᵻfˌaɪ wʌt ðeɪ pɚsˈiːvd æz fˈɔlts wɪððə kˈɜːɹənt tˈæks sˈɪstəm, tə dɪtˈɜːmɪn wʌt ɐmˈɛɹɪkən sˈɪɾɪzənz wʊd lˈaɪk tə sˈiː ɪn tˈæks ɹᵻfˈɔːɹm, ænd ðˈɛn tə dɪzˈaɪn ðə bˈɛst sˈɪstəm ʌv tæksˈeɪʃən.
AFFT was founded in 1994 by three Houston businessmen, Jack Trotter, Bob McNair, and Leo Linbeck, Jr., who each pledged $1.5 million as seed money to hire tax experts to identify what they perceived as faults with the current tax system, to determine what American citizens would like to see in tax reform, and then to design the best system of taxation.