Fred Goldberg
Commissioner of Internal Revenue
In office
July 5, 1989 – February 2, 1992
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byMichael Murphy
Succeeded byShirley D. Peterson
Personal details
Born (1947-10-15) October 15, 1947
EducationYale 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 position of Commissioner of Internal Revenue.[1]

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 resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family and is a partner in the office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

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.[2] 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).

While details are not known, it was under Goldberg's administration that the long running IRS/Scientology legal conflict ended,[3] though it took two years (under two other commissioners) to work out the details.[4] 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.[5] (A draft version of the agreement was leaked to The Wall Street Journal and published late in 1997.)[6]

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.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Cohen, Patricia (December 18, 2017). "Have You Ever Felt Sorry for the I.R.S.? Now Might Be the Time". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  2. ↑ Frantz, Douglas (March 19, 1997). "Scientology Denies an Account Of an Impromptu I.R.S. Meeting". The New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
    - "Church Of Scientology Denies Impromptu Meeting With US Tax Agency". The New York Beacon. April 2, 1997.
  3. ↑ Ortega, Tony (June 24, 2008). "Scientology's Crushing Defeat". Village Voice. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  4. ↑ Frantz, Douglas (December 31, 1997). "$12.5 Million Deal With I.R.S. Lifted Cloud Over Scientologists". The New York Times. Retrieved August 24, 2008.
  5. ↑ Gerstein, Josh (February 8, 2008). "Judges Press IRS on Church Tax Break". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on February 10, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
    - Frantz, Douglas (March 9, 1997). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Scientologists, IRS Settle Dispute". The Wall Street Journal. December 20, 1997.
  7. ↑ 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.
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