Concentration Requirements

Core Requirements:

To receive credit for having completed the Concentration, a student must successfully complete (e.g., pass) at least 15 total units of Loyola Law School JD tax courses. No more than two units of externship may be counted toward this requirement. 

• Income Taxation I or Income Taxation Intensive
• Introduction to Income Taxation
• A tax research course, which may be satisfied with at least one of the following:
  • Income Tax Timing Issues/ Property Transactions
  • Income Tax Timing Issues
  • Advanced Federal Tax Research and Planning
  • Tax Law Practicum

Advanced Electives:

Other required credits can be obtained through the following courses. The following currently offered courses qualify as JD tax courses for the purposes of this Concentration:

• Accounting for Income Taxes
• Advanced Federal Tax Research and Planning
• Bankruptcy Taxation
• California Property Tax
• Corporate Taxation I
• Corporate Taxation II
• Criminal Tax Practice and Procedure
• Directed Tax Research
• Employee Pensions and Benefits
• Estate and Gift Taxation I
• Estate and Gift Taxation II
• Estate Planning
• Executive Compensation
• Financial Basics for Lawyers
• Honors Tax Policy Colloquium
• Income Tax Planning for Real Estate Transactions
• Income Tax Timing Issues
• Income Taxation of Property Transactions
• Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates
• International Taxation I
• International Taxation II
• IRS Small Case Tax Clinic
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Nonprofit Tax and Transactions Clinic
• Partnership Taxation I
• Partnership Taxation II
• State and Local Taxation
• Tax Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions Transactions
• Tax Externship
• Tax Law Practicum
• Taxpayer Appeals Assistance Clinic
• Tax Planning for Family Wealth
• Tax Policy
• Tax Practice and Procedure
• Tax Strategies for the Digital Age

Experiential Requirement:

As part of the 15 units, students must participate in at least one of the following:

• IRS Small Case Tax Clinic
• Taxpayer Appeals Assistance Clinic
• Nonprofit Tax and Transactional Clinic
• Estate Planning
• Tax Law Practicum
• Tax externship

We currently offer four tax externships, one each at the Attorney General’s Office – Business and Tax Division; the IRS Office of Chief Counsel; the State Board of Equalization; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office Tax Division.

Honors Recognition in Tax Concentration:

A student enrolled in the Tax Concentration will graduate with honors in tax if he or she attains a grade point average in the Concentration of at least A-. Only grades in courses counted toward the Concentration will be included in the foregoing grade point average.

Credit for JD Tax Concentration courses toward Tax LLM degree:

A student may apply up to 12 units of upper-division tax courses (all tax courses other than Income Taxation I) toward the 24 units required for a Tax LLM degree, provided the student earns grades of B+ or higher in such courses. Thus, a student completing the JD Tax Concentration with grades of B+ or higher in each course will have completed one-half of the units required for earning a Tax LLM degree.

Joint JD/Tax LLM Students:

Courses taken during the Intensive Summer Session are not JD courses for the purposes of the Tax Law Concentration and will not count toward the requirements. Students admitted to the 3-year Joint JD/Tax LLM Program need only successfully complete 12 units of JD tax courses to complete this requirement, but may not count any JD courses subsumed in the Intensive Summer Session (e.g., Income Taxation I) toward the twelve. Courses taken during the Intensive Summer Session will not count for purposes of determining whether a student may graduate from the Concentration with honors.

Questions can be directed to Concentration Adviser, Professor Jennifer Kowal.