Goldberg delays leaving Treasury to make sure draft rules are issued.

WASHINGTON - Fred T. Goldberg Jr., Treasury assistant secretary for tax policy, will stay at Treasury until at least Nov. 27 to help shepherd draft tax regulations through the department, knowledgeable sources said yesterday.

Goldberg, who joined Treasury last February after more than two years as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, told colleagues right after the presidential election that he planned to leave the department on Nov. 13 to spend more time with his family.

But he told colleagues late last week that he would stay at least until the day after Thanksgiving so he could continue to sign off on draft regulations.

His abrupt departure plans had upset some Treasury and Internal Revenue Service officials who had been rushing to complete regulatory projects that Goldberg said last May were a priority this year.

Treasury and IRS officials worried that some of these ongoing projects would be delayed or halted once Goldberg left because it would take time to bring his successor up to speed on them.

Goldberg has not announced his future job plans. He was a partner in the local office of the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom before becoming IRS Commissioner in 1989 and had been the IRS' chief counsel from 1984 to 1986 and an assistant to the IRS commissioner in 1981 and 1982. He could not be reached for comment.

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