
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 21, 1991                   TAG: 9103210310
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

`NO-GOOD TAX POLICY' REFUSED/ IRS RESTS AIMING AUDITS AT NON-RICH

IRS Commissioner Fred Goldberg said Wednesday he rejected as "no-good tax policy" a recent White House budget office proposal to step up audits of lower-income taxpayers and relax pressure on big corporations.

"I said we will not do it," Goldberg told the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. He said he made clear the Internal Revenue Service policy has been to "go after the big guys who are not paying their share, and we are going to do it."

"I said it's no-good tax policy," Goldberg told the subcommittee when asked about the effort, which was initiated earlier this year by the Office of Management and Budget. "I say now it's no-good tax policy."

"I don't believe it's fair or effective," said Rep. J.J. Pickle, D-Texas and the chairman of the subcommittee.

Goldberg said OMB eventually dropped the idea.

He acknowledged, however, that his request to spend an additional $76 million next year on audit programs aimed primarily at those with high incomes was cut to $35 million by the Treasury Department and to $6 million by OMB.

According to documents obtained by the subcommittee, OMB proposed that IRS shift funds away from thorough audits of high-income individuals and businesses into "correspondence audits," which are targeted mainly on those with lower incomes.

Correspondence audits are done by mail, are relatively simple and have the potential for a quick payoff, which is what prompted the OMB proposal.

by CNB