LLM in Taxation

Contacts:

Director:  Philip Postlewaite
Associate Director:  Genevieve Tokic
Program Office: 312-503-3300; taxlaw@law.northwestern.edu

Program Overview

The LLM Tax curriculum gives students a foundational understanding of tax law, which they can apply to a wide array of specialty tax elective courses.  The required courses cover the four principal areas of the modern tax law: Taxation of Property Transactions, Corporate Taxation, Partnership Taxation, and International Taxation.  Students also can choose from a variety of elective courses with the opportunity to pursue particular areas of the tax law or to further expand their exposure to various areas of the tax law. 

Enrollment Options

Degree-seeking students may choose to pursue the full-time or part-time enrollment plan; degree requirements are the same for both options.  Students should refer to the Tuition webpage to review rates associated with the various options.

Program of Study

Beyond the required courses, students are free to design their own program of study and can choose from over 28 different tax electives. Many students choose to enroll in courses covering a variety of subject areas; however, students have the option to choose specific elective courses that reflect their specialized interest in a particular area of taxation.

Degree Requirements:

Course Title
Required Courses (6 courses / 12 credits)
TAXLAW 610Corporate Taxation (LLM Tax)
TAXLAW 620Partnership Tax (LLM Tax)
TAXLAW 621Advanced Partnership Taxation
TAXLAW 640Taxation of Property Transactions
TAXLAW 641Advanced Taxation of Property Transactions
TAXLAW 670International Taxation
Advanced Corporate Tax Requirement (2 credits)
Select one of the following: 1
S Corporations and Other Specially Taxed Entities
Divisive Reorganizations and Separations
Corporate Reorganizations
Tax Aspects of Private Equity Transactions
Taxation of Debt Instruments and other Financial Transactions
Consolidated Returns
Advanced International Tax Requirement (2 credits)
Select one of the following: 1
Controlled Foreign Corporations
International Estate Planning
European Union Taxation
International Taxation of Partnerships
Advanced International Corporate Tax Transactions
Tax Treaties
Transfer Pricing
Consolidated Returns
Elective Courses (8 credits)
Select courses from the TAXLAW subject, or:
Accounting for Decision-Making (Law)
Tax Policy
Colloquium: Tax
Minimum Credits Required: 24
1

Students may take additional courses from the Advanced Corporate Tax and Advanced International Tax course lists to satisfy the elective credit requirement.

Tax Certificates

While enrolled in the Tax Program, full-time, part-time, joint degree, and non-degree students can choose to earn a certificate in one of four substantive areas of taxation: Corporate Tax, International Tax, Tax Controversy, and Wealth Transfer and Legacy Planning. To receive a certificate, the student would need to take 10 credits of the following courses:

Corporate Tax

Course Title
Required Courses (6 credits)
TAXLAW 610Corporate Taxation (LLM Tax)
TAXLAW 612Divisive Reorganizations and Separations
TAXLAW 613Corporate Reorganizations
Elective Courses (4 credits)
Select two from the following:
S Corporations and Other Specially Taxed Entities
Tax Aspects of Private Equity Transactions
Taxation of Debt Instruments and other Financial Transactions
Consolidated Returns
Total Credits: 10

International Tax

Course Title
Required Courses (6 credits)
TAXLAW 669International Taxation of Partnerships
TAXLAW 670International Taxation
TAXLAW 673Advanced International Corporate Tax Transactions
Elective Courses (4 credits)
Select two from the following:
Controlled Foreign Corporations
Tax Treaties
Transfer Pricing
Total Credits: 10

Tax Controversy

Course Title
Coursework (10 credits)
Select 5 courses from the following
TAXLAW 675Tax Procedure
TAXLAW 676Tax Audits, Appeals, and Litigation
TAXLAW 678Transfer Pricing
TAXLAW 680Tax Policy
TAXLAW 681Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of Tax Crimes
TAXLAW 688State and Local Taxation
Total Credits: 10

Wealth Transfer and Legacy Planning

Course Title
Required Courses (5 courses / 10 credits)
TAXLAW 615Tax Exempt Organizations
TAXLAW 632International Estate Planning
TAXLAW 650Estate and Gift Tax
TAXLAW 651Estate Planning
TAXLAW 655Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates
Total Credits: 10

Tax Faculty

The Tax Program's full-time faculty members have extensive tax scholarship and teaching experience.  They are experts in their fields of taxation and have collectively published more than 11 tax law treatises and casebooks.  Our tax adjunct faculty members are leading tax professionals from top law and accounting firms in Chicago. Many are also published authors on their areas of expertise and speak at various tax conferences and events on a regular basis.

For a listing of Tax Program full-time and adjunct faculty members, please see the Tax Faculty Profiles.

Tax Courses 

Courses with the TAXLAW subject are open primarily to students in the LLM Tax program.  JD and LLM students may enroll into open seats in Tax electives during the add/drop period.  Please note while every effort is made to ensure these lists are accurate, change is inevitable.  Not all courses are offered each year.  For specific program information, including a list of required courses, please refer to the LLM Tax Degree Requirements section

Course Title
BUSCOM 431Business Strategy (Law)
BUSCOM 649Accounting for Decision-Making (Law)
BUSCOM 684Tax Policy
BUSCOM 725Colloquium: Tax
TAXLAW 610Corporate Taxation (LLM Tax)
TAXLAW 613Corporate Reorganizations
TAXLAW 615Tax Exempt Organizations
TAXLAW 618Tax Aspects of Private Equity Transactions
TAXLAW 620Partnership Tax (LLM Tax)
TAXLAW 621Advanced Partnership Taxation
TAXLAW 640Taxation of Property Transactions
TAXLAW 641Advanced Taxation of Property Transactions
TAXLAW 650Estate and Gift Tax
TAXLAW 651Estate Planning
TAXLAW 655Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates
TAXLAW 669International Taxation of Partnerships
TAXLAW 670International Taxation
TAXLAW 673Advanced International Corporate Tax Transactions
TAXLAW 674Tax Treaties
TAXLAW 675Tax Procedure
TAXLAW 676Tax Audits, Appeals, and Litigation
TAXLAW 680Tax Policy
TAXLAW 681Investigation, Prosecution and Defense of Tax Crimes
TAXLAW 682ERISA and Employee Benefits
TAXLAW 685Tax Ethics, Opinions and Penalties
TAXLAW 686Executive Compensation
TAXLAW 688State and Local Taxation
TAXLAW 690Colloquium: Advanced Topics in Taxation
TAXLAW 699AAdvanced Research and Writing on Tax Issues