The Tax Law Certificate Program will offer students concentrated and advanced exposure to tax law, policy, and practice and will help students launch careers in tax law. The certificate is awarded upon completion of at least 15 units of tax-related courses, and a substantial research paper on a tax-related topic. Students must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0 in graded certificate classes.
Tax Law Certificate Requirements
To qualify for the Tax Law Certificate students are required to take Federal Income Taxation as well as one of the transactional tax courses: Taxation of Business Entities, Corporate Taxation, Taxation of Partnerships and LLCs, or International Aspects of U.S. Taxation. The remaining units may be fulfilled by any combination of Foundation and Elective courses as described below. Students also may petition the tax law faculty supervisors for certificate credit in Tax Law related courses and activities which are not explicitly listed.
Independent or Group Study and Externships
Students may satisfy up to 6 units of the required 15 units through a tax-related independent writing project, externship, or a combination of the two. However, no more than 4 of those units may come from an externship. Any Group Study or Independent Writing Project must be approved by at least one tax law faculty member. A paper written for group study will not satisfy the writing requirement without prior approval from a supervising tax law faculty member.
Writing Requirement
Students must complete a writing-requirement-quality paper pertaining to a tax-related topic, approved by a tax professor, and conducted through a seminar, an independent study, or law review. The paper must develop and defend a thesis, and demonstrate original research, thought, and analysis. Students writing a paper outside the context of a seminar must consult early with a supervising faculty member on paper topics, and must submit a proposed topic to the supervising faculty member by September of their third year of law school, and must also submit a detailed outline of the paper by December of their third year. Specific deadlines should be established with your tax law faculty advisor.
Foundation Courses
- 247B Corporate Tax (3)
- 220 Federal Income Taxation (4)
- 247A International Taxation (3)
- 247 Taxation of Partnerships and LLCs (3)
- 247C Taxation of Business Entities (4)
Tax Law Elective Courses
* Elective courses are offered on a rotating basis. Not all courses will be taught in any given year. Please check the Course Descriptions webpage for current course offerings.
Elective Courses
- 258C Conscious Lawyering (1)
- 220 Federal Income Taxation (4)
- 247A International Taxation (3)
- 214A Migration, Work, and Taxation (2)
- 271 Nonprofit Organizations and Drafting: A-Z Coverage with Document Drafting (4)
- 255 Pension and Employee Benefits Law (3)
- 221A Practical Skills in Will and Trust Drafting and Administration (2)
- 269E Public Finance (2)
- 220A State and Local Taxation (3)
- 220B Tax and Distributive Justice (3)
- 430 Taxation Externship (2 to 6)
- 247 Taxation of Partnerships and LLCs (3)
- 247C Taxation of Business Entities (4)
- 220C Tax Controversy and Procedure (2)
- 214 Tax Issues Related to Estate Planning (2)
- 221 Trusts, Wills, and Estates (2 or 3)
Tax Law Certificate Form
Upon satisfying the above requirements, students should complete the Tax Law Certificate Form , and have one of the tax law faculty sign off and return the form to the Law School Registrar's Office.