The IEA is a registered educational and research charity.<ref>{{EW charity|235351|The Institute of Economic Affairs Limited}}</ref> The organisation states that it is entirely funded by "voluntary donations from individuals, companies and foundations who want to support its work, plus income from book sales and conferences."<ref name=IEA-about /> It is "independent of any political party or group."<ref name=IEA-about />. The IEA has written policy papers arguing against government funding for pressure groups and charities involved in political campaigning <ref>{{cite web|last1=Snowden|first1=Christopher|title=Sock Puppets: How the government lobbies itself and why|url=http://www.iea.org.uk/publications/research/sock-puppets-how-the-government-lobbies-itself-and-why|publisher=IEA Discussion Paper 39|accessdate=17 March 2015}}</ref>
According to left-wing journalist [[George Monbiot]], itthe IEA may have received funding from [[Donors Trust]] through the American Friends of the Institute of Economic Affairs, like many other free market think tanks, including the [[American Enterprise Institute]], the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]], the [[Hudson Institute]], the [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]], the [[Reason Foundation]], the [[Heritage Foundation]], [[Americans for Prosperity]], the [[Mont Pelerin Society]] and the [[Discovery Institute]].<ref name="monbiotpr">George Monbiot, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/18/charities-pr-rightwing-ultra-rich The educational charities that do PR for the rightwing ultra-rich], ''The Guardian'', 18 February 2013</ref> According to ''[[The Guardian]]'', it received donations from [[British American Tobacco]] in 2011 and 2012 as well as from [[Japan Tobacco International]] and [[Imperial Tobacco]].<ref name="guardianjamie">Jamie Doward, [http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/jun/01/thinktanks-big-tobacco-funds-smoking Health groups dismayed by news 'big tobacco' funded rightwing thinktanks], ''The Guardian'', 1 June 2013</ref> In February 2015, Transparify, a [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]-based organization funded by [[George Soros]], suggested the IEA was one of the three least transparent think tanks in the UK when it comes to its donors, alongside the [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]] and [[LSE IDEAS]].<ref name="sarahneville">Sarah Neville, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ae6968c4-b5ec-11e4-b58d-00144feab7de.html#axzz3SekS8nmf British think-tanks ‘less transparent about sources of funding’], ''Financial Times'', February 17, 2015</ref>
