Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• LAW TX 953: Inbound International Tax
  This course will cover the U.S. tax rules applicable to taxation of income from U.S. (and sometimes foreign) sources received by corporations and individuals that are non-residents of the United States. In some cases, such income will be derived from passive investments and be in the form of dividends, interest, rents, or royalties. In other cases, the income will arise from active business activities. The course will address the concept of residence and entity classification, the U.S. source of income rules, the U.S. withholding tax rules (including the obligations of withholding agents) with respect to non-business income, the types of activities that can generate a "trade or business" (tax nexus) in the U.S., the U.S. rules for determining income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business and thus taxable in the U.S., the branch profits tax, FIRPTA (foreign investment in U.S. real property) and the U.S. rules applicable to financing U.S. operations owned by non-U.S. taxpayers Finally, we will address the impact of tax treaties on the taxation of income of non-residents. This course will be of interest to students who will represent foreign resident taxpayers with economic operations in the United States. Prerequisite or corequisite: Federal Income Taxation I; Recommended: Tax Aspects of International Business. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 955: Tax of Intellectual Property
  Intellectual property - from sophisticated aerospace technology to computer software and web applications to music and video rights - is one of the most important, challenging, and sophisticated areas of modern commerce. However, because the IP revolution has occurred in only the last 25 years, many of the traditional principles of income taxation are not easily applied to IP assets. This course will explore the tax aspects of creating intellectual property, buying intellectual property, exploiting IP through leases and licenses, and strategies for selling valuable IP rights with the best tax results. The course will also explore important international tax issues, including the so called "migration" of IP offshore, cost-sharing arrangements, and other mechanisms that seek to "locate" IP and the associated tax liabilities in tax-favorable jurisdictions. The course will teach the tax differences between copyrighting and patenting a software program, the right and wrong ways to license and sell a trademark, and the mechanisms for turning a "license" into a "sale" and thereby converting ordinary income into capitol gains. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 957: COMPARATIVE INCOME TAX
  This course considers different solutions adopted by nine industrialized countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States) to common problems in income tax design. It responds to the need for a broader understanding of the way that tax matters are handled in different countries as business transactions become increasingly global. The course presents a policy-focused overview of variant tax treatments in individual, business (corporate and partnership) and cross-border transactions. The intent is not to develop an expertise in any one, or any group of tax systems, but rather to provide a comparative knowledge base upon which a further, in-depth inquiry can be based. Course Structure: This course follows an assigned text. After the opening class the course is structured in three equal (four-class) segments on (1) Individual, (2) Business and (3) International tax topics. An effort will be made when appropriate to update the materials in the text, allowing us to discuss some current problems. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 958: International Estate Planning
  The course will cover international estate planning from two perspectives: (1) U.S. citizens residing outside of the U.S. or owning assets located outside of the U.S.; and (2) foreign citizens residing in the U.S. or transferring assets in or to the U.S. U.S. gift and estate tax laws applicable to both situations will be studied in depth in a practice-oriented manner. Planning techniques and vehicles utilized in international estate planning will be explored, in particular trusts and the special U.S. income tax rules applicable to foreign trusts with U.S. beneficiaries and off-shore U.S.-grantor trusts. The impact of non-U.S. transfer taxes and tax treaties will be considered, as well as non-tax foreign laws impacting on international estate planning. The course will also cover the U.S. tax and estate planning issues applicable to "mixed marriages" where one spouse is a U.S. citizen and the other is a non-U.S. citizen, and multi-jurisdiction situations of gifts or bequests from non-U.S. donors or decedents to U.S. beneficiaries. Finally, the course will also consider cultural and ethical issues peculiar to the area of international estate planning. Prerequisite or corequisite: Estate and Gift Tax, Estate Planning. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 969: ACCOUNTING FOR FINANCIAL INSTI
  
• LAW TX 978: Tax Accounting for Financial Statements
  TX978 is an introductory course in the reporting of income taxes on financial statements under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). This course covers financial reporting rules that every tax attorney needs to know to be conversant with business clients and other tax professionals. Subjects include deferred taxes, valuation allowance, uncertain tax positions, effective tax rate, and permanent reinvestment of subsidiary earnings. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 979: Transfer Pricing and Supply Chains
  This course will focus on advanced transfer pricing aspects of business restructurings (including supply chain redesigns and intangible property movements). Students will have the opportunity to experience applying the concepts of Section 482, GILTI/BEAT/FDII (new TCJA provisions) and the OECD's BEPS initiative in international tax planning for complex cross- border operations. Through case studies and small group projects, we will bring legal, accounting, and economic disciplines together to discuss practical tax challenges faced by multinational enterprises in the evolving international tax framework. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 981: Criminal Tax
  This Course will cover the legal, evidentiary, and procedural challenges presented in the prosecution of criminal tax cases. Class discussion will cover basic criminal tax violations found in United States Code Title 26 and a selection of federal crimes found in Title 18. The Course will also cover: IRS and Department of Justice, Tax Division practice and procedure; IRS audit, appeal and collection procedure and parallel civil and criminal tax procedures; the various methods of proof used by the IRS in investigating and prosecuting criminal tax fraud cases; federal grand jury practice; financial records search warrants; federal conspiracy and money laundering offenses; testimonial and document production immunity; foreign evidence processes, including select portions of the Title III of the USA PATRIOT ACT (also known as the International Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of 2001; and application of criminal tax offenses to terrorism financing cases. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 982: Tax Seminar
  This course provides an opportunity for students to conduct in-depth research and to improve their writing skills on current issues in taxation. This class meets weekly to discuss tax law developments globally at the State & Local, US Federal and International topics and to review the topic proposal and outlines of class participants. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 985: Tax Research
  Tax Law research is among the most complicated areas of the law to research. Statutes, regulations and agency issuances interact to create a thickly layered set of legal precedents. This class will explore the resources a tax professional would use to perform his or her research from legislative history to private letter rulings. Students will become familiar with the research platforms outside of Lexis and Westlaw that are commonly used in practice. Students will get practice in using many of the most heavily used practice materials. Classes will combine instruction and hands-on exercises using the major print and electronic resources available for tax law research. Students will be required to complete an assignment for each class. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 989: Tax and Regulation of Cryptocurrency
  This course is designed to provide an introductory understanding of the theory and principles by which decentralized digital currencies - cryptocurrencies - operate, within both a practical and legal framework. The course can be broken down into three broad topics: (1) An examination of the concept of money, currency, and legal tender; (2) An introduction to the history of decentralized digital currencies, including the logic of a peer- to-peer payment system, the decentralized governance of cryptocurrency solutions, an analysis of the problems that cryptocurrencies are intended to resolve, and a high-level understanding of the blockchain; and (3) An in- depth examination and analysis of the current state of regulatory and tax treatment of various cryptocurrency transactions in the United States and in international jurisdictions. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 990: Salt Externship FW
  Salt Externship FW
• LAW TX 991: World of LLCs
  LLCs have become the most popular entity for businesses. They are used in estate planning, joint ventures by large corporations, investment vehicles, small businesses, mergers and acquisitions, international transactions, operating businesses and individuals. This is a hands on course with lots of problem solving, drafting suggestions and practical approaches to dealing with these LLCs (emphasis on Subchapter K) within whatever tax discipline you practice. Co-requisite: Partnership Tax I. JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.
• LAW TX 992: Writing for Tax Practice
  This course will focus on teaching students how to write client letters, internal memoranda, responses to IRS IDRs, and other documents common in tax practice. Students will be required to do multiple drafts of each assignment to allow for feedback and improvement on student writing. Additionally, there will be an emphasis on understanding the different audiences for each assignment (client, tax partner, government authority, etc.) and the relevant considerations in writing to each audience. Students will also be required to research and write the client letter and supporting memorandum in response to the problem set issued by the ABA Law Student Tax Challenge (submission to the competition is optional). JD students are not permitted to enroll in the online section of any tax courses without receiving prior approval from the Assistant Dean for Graduate, International, and Online programs.