Fred Goldberg, former IRS chief counsel, IRS commissioner and Department of the Treasury assistant secretary for tax policy, advises clients on complex tax controversy and tax policy matters, including administrative, regulatory and legislative matters. He also serves as co-chair emeritus of Skadden’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, as well as of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.

Mr. Goldberg represents business, tax-exempt and individual clients in all phases of a dispute resolution with tax authorities, including at audit, in administrative appeal, mediation and arbitration, and in litigation. A primary focus of his practice has been to resolve large and complex tax controversies related to a wide range of issues and across all industries. These matters have involved tax accounting; transfer pricing; IRS challenges to research and experimentation (R&E) and energy tax credit claims; placed-in-service issues; IRS challenges to various capital market transactions; the status of tax-exempt bonds; the examination of tax-exempt organizations; the tax treatment of corporate distributions and reorganizations; the valuation of going concerns; international restructuring transactions; the tax treatment of insurance contracts; and compliance with information reporting and withholding rules.

Clients have turned to Mr. Goldberg to advise on a variety of complex transactional and compliance matters having industry-wide significance. Additionally, he has directed compliance and management reviews on behalf of senior executives and boards of directors. On a selective basis, he also has counseled clients on several other regulatory and legislative matters.

Mr. Goldberg co-led Skadden’s Global Tax Group for over 20 years. He also was a member of the National Commission on Restructuring the IRS and executive director of the Bipartisan Congressional Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform.

Mr. Goldberg is very active in the firm’s pro bono and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. He currently is co-chair of the tax working group committee of the Law Firm Anti-Racism Alliance, a coalition of more than 290 law firms around the country donating pro bono service to matters addressing racial justice issues. He is also involved in significant pro bono matters, including the HBCU-focused Student Freedom Initiative; the New York City Kids RISE education opportunity initiative; legislative options for reducing the tax gap; and design and implementation issues around proposals to extend the Advance Child Tax Credit.

A highly recognized practitioner in the area of tax controversy, Mr. Goldberg is repeatedly selected for inclusion in the top tier of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, International Tax Review: Tax Controversy Leaders, Who’s Who Legal — Corporate Tax and The Legal 500 U.S., which named him to its Hall of Fame in 2022. He also was named to the Washingtonian’s 2022 Top Lawyers Hall of Fame in recognition of being included in its Top Lawyers list at least 10 out of the past 15 years.

Skadden

Skadden’s Tax Group, comprising more than 100 attorneys in eight offices worldwide, is experienced in virtually every type of matter that presents significant tax issues. In addition to handling all aspects of tax law in corporate transactions, we represent clients at every level, and in most types, of disputes with taxing authorities.

With extensive experience at Department of the Treasury, IRS and Department of Justice, as well as in congressional tax writing committees, our tax professionals are highly skilled in handling intricate tax issues with the goal of reaching creative and value- added solutions tailored to each client’s specific needs. Our Tax Group also closely coordinates its efforts with Skadden lawyers in other disciplines to provide a one-team approach to each matter. As an integrated firm with 50-plus practices across 21 offices worldwide, we are uniquely positioned to serve clients in every industry and on any tax matter.

For decades, the unique breadth of our transactional tax practice and our geographical reach have allowed us to represent a broad array of public and private companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, post-acquisition integration transactions, cross-border and global internal restructuring transactions, spin-offs and joint ventures. Our transactional tax work includes extensive experience with:

• tax-free and taxable acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, spin-offs and dispositions, often with cross-border components;
• international tax planning, including transfer pricing and advance pricing agreements; subpart F, global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI), foreign-derived intangible income (FDII), and base erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT) planning; intellectual property and supply chain planning; and foreign tax credit utilization;
• real estate investment trusts (REITs) and regulated investment companies (RICs);
• partnerships, LLCs, joint ventures and disregarded entities in a variety of unique contexts and in virtually every industry sector;
• corporate finance and funding transactions, recapitalizations, project finance, tax equity transactions and leasing transactions;
• Chapter 11 reorganization cases, nonjudicial restructurings and other troubled company workouts; and
• private equity and hedge fund transactions.

As one of the nation’s leading tax controversy practices, clients also turn to us to resolve large, complex and global tax controversy and litigation matters. We represent corporations, partnerships, estates, individuals and government entities facing every kind of tax liability including income tax, estate tax and excise tax. We regularly work with our clients to resolve their disputes quickly and privately, through the administrative process. In addition, our highly regarded tax litigators have experience representing clients in many of the most significant tax cases in the United States.