Taxation

The Graduate Tax Program (GTP), established in 1945, is the foremost program of its kind in the nation. The graduate tax faculty includes several of the country's leading academic figures in taxation as well as tax practitioners who combine an extraordinary commitment to teaching with practical knowledge accumulated over years of experience at the most sophisticated levels of tax practice. Alumni of the program are found in prominent positions in tax practice, government, the judiciary, and academia.

While most of the applicants and enrolled students in the full-time LL.M. in Taxation program are graduates of U.S. law schools, foreign-trained lawyers are welcome to apply. The program is designed to provide a firm grounding in all of the major areas of federal taxation. Theoretical and policy issues are also covered extensively, because a narrow, mechanical approach to tax problems is neither responsible nor practical. The program is rigorous because no other approach can effectively address the complexity of the tax laws.

Students may enroll on a full-time or part-time basis. All graduate tax students must complete a total of 24 credits. Both full-time and part-time degree candidates must complete 20 of these credits in graduate tax courses, and all students must maintain a B- (2.67) grade point average in all courses. It is expected that applicants complete a basic federal income tax course before enrolling in the LL.M. program.

Up to four credits may be transferred from another law school, as long as the courses meet the general requirements of the Graduate Division for transfer credit. However, transfer credits will be counted as non-tax elective credits, even if the substantive area covered by the class was taxation. Therefore, all tax LL.M. students still must take at least 20 credits in taxation at NYU School of Law.

The course requirements for the LL.M. in Taxation vary slightly depending on whether the candidate is a full-time or part-time student. Full-time students must take a tax procedure course and a tax policy course. Part-time students must also take tax procedure, but are not required to take a tax policy course. If you have taken a tax procedure or tax policy course(s) in law school, either or both of these requirements may be waived.

Aside from the tax procedure (full and part-time) and tax policy (full-time only) requirements, students are free to design their programs to suit their individual needs. Two general courses that all students should consider taking are Taxation of Property Transactions I and II, and Timing Issues and the Income Tax. Both of these courses cover basic issues and concepts that pervade tax law. The instructors in the more advanced courses assume that all students have mastered this material and do not spend class time reviewing these issues and concepts.

For those students interested in designing their program of study to concentrate on areas of particular interest, the Graduate Tax Program provides suggested courses of study for the following areas: General Taxation, Business Taxation, International Taxation, Estate Planning, and Tax Policy. For detailed information, please visit the Graduate Affairs Web site. In addition to these areas of concentration, NYU School of Law offers a variety of other courses in other areas that might be of interest to a particular student, such as state and local taxation, taxation of compensation, and advanced tax procedure. All full-time students will be assigned a faculty advisor to help them design a program of study.

For more information regarding the Graduate Taxation Program at the NYU School of Law, please visit the Taxation Program Web site.

Office of Graduate Admissions
New York University School of Law
245 Sullivan Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10012-1099
Telephone: (212) 998-6060
Fax: (212) 995-4883
Email: law.grad.moreinfo@nyu.edu