Graduate Tax Program

The Graduate Tax Program, established in 1959, was one of the first of its kind in the country and continues to be one of the best. An LLM in Taxation from BU Law reflects a mastery of the practice, ethics and subtleties of tax law.

Our curriculum—consisting of five required courses and more than 30 challenging electives—offers you a balance between tax law theory and practical application. The curriculum allows you to either select a wide spectrum of elective courses and thereby gain exposure to all areas of tax, or concentrate on courses that will prepare you for specialization in a particular subspecialty area such as business organizations and transactions, estate planning, or international tax. The overwhelming majority of the courses are offered every year, and new courses are added each year in response to student interest and developments in tax practice.

The Graduate Tax Program’s students include both recent graduates of U.S. law schools and practitioners at many of the nation’s top law firms and tax consulting firms. The program also welcomes applications from foreign-trained lawyers with focused interest in advanced tax studies. Students may enroll on a full- or part-time basis; classes are scheduled during the late afternoon and evening hours to facilitate participation by working lawyers.

You will learn from tax scholars and distinguished tax practitioners. All of our full-time faculty scholars have extensive experience in public and private tax practice. Our adjunct faculty is drawn from law firms, tax consulting firms throughout New England, and federal and state government revenue departments. The program’s instructors are recognized worldwide not only for their professional achievements but also for their outstanding teaching talent.

Throughout the year, the Graduate Tax Program plans a variety of extracurricular academic and social events for our students. For example, we plan brown bag lunches for both LLM and JD students with program faculty members and distinguished tax practitioners who discuss relevant tax law topics.

We also organize a number of social events throughout the year, including special receptions, hiking trips, sporting events such as outings to Red Sox and Patriots games and bowling nights. From time to time, the Graduate Tax Program sponsors special conferences and symposia that are of particular interest to tax practitioners, academics and students. We have cosponsored a joint conference on “Examining Corporate Tax Strategies for Multinational Corporations” with the Business Development Institute and Financial Executive, and cohosted a “Tax Accounting and Inventories Conference” with the Tax Executives Institute, Inc. We are developing relationships with law schools and other institutions outside the U.S. that may present additional opportunities for our students.

We also encourage our students to build upon their graduate studies by facilitating their membership in organizations outside of BU Law, such as the Boston Bar Association (BBA), the Boston Estate Planning Council (BEPC), and the International Fiscal Association (IFA).

We want our students to make the most out of their time here in Boston—at BU and in the community.

You will enjoy comprehensive support. Our staff is dedicated to ensuring a valuable experience both inside and outside the classroom. From academic advising to career services, we’ll do our best to help you succeed.

Program Information

Degree Requirements

The LLM in Taxation degree requires successful completion of 12 courses (24 credits) including five required courses and seven electives. A full-time student completes the degree requirements in one academic year; part-time students must complete the degree requirements in four years. Upon request, a student with the appropriate tax background may be excused from taking a required course or a prerequisite or co-requisite course in order to take additional elective courses.

No thesis is required. However, students who are interested in completing a significant writing project under the supervision of a faculty member can do so either by taking a seminar or by arranging an independent research project. Additionally, a student may supplement the program with courses at other Boston University graduate or professional programs such as the Graduate School of Management. Upon application, credit for these courses may be applied toward the LLM in Taxation degree.

An individual who has done graduate work in taxation at another American Bar Association-approved law school may, upon application, be granted advanced standing in the program. However, a minimum of half the credit hours necessary for the Boston University degree must be completed at BU Law.

Curriculum

Required Courses

  • Federal Income Taxation I
  • Federal Income Taxation II
  • Introduction to Corporate Tax
  • Partnership Tax I
  • Tax Practice and Procedure

Elective Courses

  • Bankruptcies and Workouts
  • Comparative Income Taxation
  • Comparative International Transfer Pricing
  • Consolidated Corporations
  • Corporate Reorganizations
  • Estate and Gift Taxation
  • Estate Planning
  • Estate Planning—Advanced
  • EU VAT
  • Executive Compensation
  • Executive Compensation: Advanced
  • Inbound International Taxation
  • International Estate Planning
  • International Taxation I—Trade, Investment, and Finance
  • International Taxation II—Outbound U.S. Taxation, 
the Foreign Tax Credit and Subpart F
  • International Taxation III—Advanced International Tax Issues
  • Life Cycle of a Business Venture
  • Making Tax Law
Partnership Tax II
  • Pensions and Profit Sharing Plans
  • Real Estate Taxation
  • REITs, RICs, and REMICs
  • Standards and Responsibilities in Tax Practice
  • State and Local Taxation
  • Structuring Intellectual Property
  • Ownership 
Tax Accounting
  • Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business
  • Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving 
Tax Controversies (Seminar)
  • Tax Issues in Business Decisions
  • Tax Policy (Seminar)
  • Taxation of Financial Products: Policy and Theory
  • Taxation of Financial Products: Principles and Applications
  • Taxation of Insurance Companies
Taxation of Intellectual Property I
  • Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries
  • U.S. Transfer Pricing: Comparative Intangible Issues
  • VAT and Other Consumption Taxes

Concentrations

Students who want to focus their studies in a particular “subspecialty” may consider concentrating their elective classes in any of the following areas:

General Business Taxation

A student who has a background in basic federal income taxation and corporate taxation and who wishes to concentrate on business tax issues should consider the following elective courses:

  • Bankruptcies and Workouts
  • Consolidated Corporations
  • Corporate Reorganizations
  • Executive Compensation
  • International Tax I
  • Taxation of Financial Products: Policy and Theory
  • Partnership Tax II
  • Pension and Profit Sharing Plans
  • REITs RICs, and REMICs
  • State and Local Taxation
  • Structuring Intellectual Property Ownership
  • Tax Accounting
  • Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business
  • Tax Issues in Business Decisions
  • Taxation of Intellectual Property I

Estate Planning

Students interested in estate or financial planning should consider the following elective courses:

  • Estate and Gift Taxation
  • Estate Planning
  • Estate Planning—Advanced
  • Executive Compensation
  • Taxation of Financial Products: Policy and Theory
  • Life Cycle of a Business Venture
  • Pension and Profit Sharing Plans
  • Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving
  • Taxation of Financial Products: Principles and Applications
  • Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries

International Taxation

Students interested in international tax should consider the following elective courses:

  • Comparative Income Taxation
  • Comparative International Transfer Pricing
  • EU VAT
  • Inbound International Taxation
  • International Tax I—Trade, Investment, and Finance
  • International Taxation II—the Foreign Tax Credit & Subpart F
  • International Taxation III—Advanced International 
Tax Issues
  • Structuring Intellectual Property Ownership
  • Taxation of Intellectual Property I
  • U.S. Transfer Pricing
  • VAT and Other Consumption Taxes

Note: Classes are subject to change and may not be offered every semester. Please consult the BU Law course website for updated class offerings: www.bu.edu/law/tax.