The structural geometries of three tripodal thiourea receptors, i.e. 1,3,5-triethyl-2,4,6-tris[(N′-methylthioureido)methyl]benzene (1), tris[N′-methyl-N-(2-aminoethyl)thiourea]methane (2), tris[N′-methyl- N-(2-aminoethyl)thiourea]amine (3), and their complexes with F ^-, Cl ^-, Br ^-, I ^-, NO ₃ ^-, CO ₃ ^2-, SO ₄ ^2-, HSO ₄ ^-, PO ₄ ^3-, HPO ₄ ^2- and H ₂PO ₄ ^- were obtained using the density functional theory calculations. Electronic and thermodynamic properties of anion binding complexes of the receptors 1, 2 and 3 were investigated. Recognition abilities of all the receptors in terms of selectivity coefficients are reported. Intermolecular interactions in all the studied complexes occurring via multi-point hydrogen bonding were found. The receptors 1, 2 and 3 were found to be excellent selectivity for phosphate ion and their binding free energy for the phosphate ion are -292.57, -291.77 and -295.01 kcal/mol, respectively.