Fred T. Goldberg Jr.
{{short description|American tax lawyer}}
{{use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{for|the professional poker player|Fred Goldberg}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Fred Goldberg
| office = Commissioner of Internal Revenue
| term_start = July 5, 1989
| term_end = February 2, 1992
| president = George H. W. Bush
| predecessor = Michael Murphy
| successor = Shirley D. Peterson
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|10|15}}
| birth_place =
| education = Yale University (BA, JD)
}}
Fred T. Goldberg Jr. (born October 15, 1947) is an American tax lawyer who has held high-ranking positions in the United States government, including the positions of Chief Counsel of the IRS, Commissioner of Internal Revenue,{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |title=Have You Ever Felt Sorry for the I.R.S.? Now Might Be the Time |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/18/business/irs-tax-bill.html |access-date=18 December 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=18 December 2017}} and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy. Outside of government, he has had a distinguished legal career in private practice and has been active in tax policy initiatives. His career is marked by major contributions to tax administration, including reforms to improve taxpayer services and efforts to modernize the IRS
Career
Goldberg graduated from Yale University with a bachelor's degree in 1969. After obtaining his B.A., he was a special assistant at the Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1971, he accepted a position as an assistant dean for Yale's Calhoun College and was an instructor in political science and economics at Yale. He held these positions until 1973, when he completed his juris doctor degree at Yale Law School.
After completing his J.D., was hired as an associate with the firm Latham, Watkins, and Hills. He was named as a partner in the firm in 1981. He worked with the firm until 1984.
From 1982 to 1986, Goldberg worked at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS):
- Assistant to the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (1981–1982)
- Acting director of the Legislation and Regulations Division, Office of the Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service (1982)
- Chief counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (1984–1986)
In 1989, Goldberg was selected to be the commissioner of the IRS. He held that position until 1992, when he was chosen as assistant secretary for tax policy in the United States Department of the Treasury. He currently{{when|date=October 2023}} resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family and is a partner in the office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
= Career accolades =
In September 2022, Goldberg was named to the Washingtonian's 2022 Top Lawyers Hall of Fame.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-16 |title=Top Lawyers Hall of Fame - Washingtonian |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2022/09/16/top-lawyers-hall-of-fame/ |access-date=2024-12-01 |language=en-US}}
= Interactions with Scientology =
Allegedly, Scientology officials, including the Church leader David Miscavige, arrived at his office without an appointment one day to petition for relief.{{cite web |first=Douglas |last=Frantz |title=Scientology Denies an Account Of an Impromptu I.R.S. Meeting |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04EED81038F93AA25750C0A961958260 |work=The New York Times |date= 1997-03-19 |access-date= 2007-11-17 }}
- {{cite news |title=Church Of Scientology Denies Impromptu Meeting With US Tax Agency |work=The New York Beacon |date=1997-04-02}} The meeting was not listed on Goldberg's appointment calendar, which was obtained by The New York Times through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
While details are not known, it was under Goldberg's administration that the long running IRS/Scientology legal conflict ended,{{cite news |last=Ortega |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Ortega |title=Scientology's Crushing Defeat |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/06/24/scientologys-crushing-defeat/ |access-date=August 23, 2020 |work=Village Voice |date=June 24, 2008}} though it took two years (under two other commissioners) to work out the details.{{cite web |first=Douglas |last=Frantz | title=$12.5 Million Deal With I.R.S. Lifted Cloud Over Scientologists |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7D71331F932A05751C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |work=The New York Times |date=1997-12-31 |access-date=2008-08-24 }} Scientology received a unique tax exemption in 1993 and the IRS has refused to release the agreement, even after a FOIA request by The New York Times and when requested by the court in the Sklar case.{{cite news |last=Gerstein |first=Josh | title=Judges Press IRS on Church Tax Break |work=The New York Sun |date=February 8, 2008 |url=http://www.nysun.com/article/70957 |access-date =February 8, 2008 |archive-date=February 10, 2008 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080210043941/http://www.nysun.com/article/70957 |url-status=dead}}
- {{cite news |first=Douglas |last=Frantz |title=Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/us/scientology-s-puzzling-journey-from-tax-rebel-to-tax-exempt.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 9, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110012741/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/us/scientology-s-puzzling-journey-from-tax-rebel-to-tax-exempt.html |archive-date=January 10, 2023 |url-access=subscription | access-date = 2007-11-17 }} (A draft version of the agreement was leaked to The Wall Street Journal and published late in 1997.){{cite news |title=Scientologists, IRS Settle Dispute |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=December 20, 1997}}
In early 2002, Judge Silverman, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote the following:
If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology—allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else—then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to stop that policy. The remedy is not to require the IRS to let others claim the improper deduction, too.[http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0070753p.pdf Sklar v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue], United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 00-70753, Tax Court No. 1556-97, Amended Opinion, Appeal from the United States Tax Court, Amended, February 27, 2002.
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|27984}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.skadden.com/index.cfm?contentID=45&bioID=1011 |title=Fred T. Goldberg, Jr - Biography |publisher=Skadden |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051102013815/http://www.skadden.com/index.cfm?contentID=45&bioID=1011 |archivedate=November 2, 2005}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Fred T. Jr.}}
Category:Commissioners of Internal Revenue
Category:Lawyers from Bethesda, Maryland
Category:Yale Law School alumni