Boston University School of Law
Master in the Study of Tax Law

Boston, USA

DEGREE TYPE

MLS

DURATION

2 semesters

LANGUAGES

English

PACE

Full time, Part time

APPLICATION DEADLINE

EARLIEST START DATE

STUDY FORMAT

Distance Learning, On-Campus

Key Summary

About : The Master in the Study of Tax Law provides an in-depth understanding of tax legislation and its application. The curriculum covers domestic and international tax issues, aiming to equip students with vital analytical skills and comprehensive knowledge.

Career Outcomes : Graduates can pursue various careers in tax consulting, compliance, and policy analysis. Potential roles include tax advisor, corporate tax specialist, financial planner, and positions within government agencies or international organizations.

Offered through the school’s renowned Graduate Tax Program, our Master in the Study of Tax Law is a 24-credit program designed to provide foundational tax law training to aspiring and current accountants, auditors, and other business professionals. Building on the foundation of the Graduate Tax Program, program students have access to one of the most comprehensive curricula for advanced tax studies in the country. Our graduates—over 3,000 strong—have consistently told us that their BU Law LLM in Taxation degree has been an essential ingredient to their professional success, and we could not be more excited to open the program to a wider audience of tax professionals.

Careers and Community

The Master's Program offers the following professional opportunities every year:

on and off-campus recruiting events with all of the “Big 4 accounting firms”: Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC;
proprietary job postings;
tax careers luncheon;
lecture series on cutting-edge issues;
advising events with alumni;
visits to observe proceedings in the U.S. Tax Court; and
skills workshops on tax research databases and Excel;

Our social events include Boston team sporting events, pub nights, and a spring reception at a local restaurant. Online students are included in all event invites and many make at least one trip to Boston during their studies. We also do some major celebrating at our graduation weekend events.

Degree Requirements

The MSL-Tax requires successful completion of 24 credits. Students enrolled in the full- or part-time program must complete six required courses, satisfy the tax ethics requirement, and are encouraged to choose electives that suit their personal, academic, and professional needs. A full-time student completes the degree requirements in one academic year; a part-time student must complete the degree requirements within four years. Upon request, a student with the appropriate tax background may be excused from taking a required course or a prerequisite or corequisite course in order to take additional elective courses.

Students must fulfill a writing requirement consisting of a research paper of at least 7,500 words (typically completed as part of TX 982). Additionally, a student may supplement the program with courses at other Boston University graduate or professional programs such as the Questrom School of Business or Metropolitan College. Upon approval, credit for these courses may be applied toward the MSL-Tax degree.

An individual who has completed graduate work in taxation at another American Bar Association–approved law school may, upon application, be granted advanced standing in the full- or part-time residential program. However, a minimum of 18 credit hours must be completed at BU Law.

Required Courses

Federal Income Taxation I
Federal Income Taxation II
Introduction to Corporate Tax
Partnership Tax I
Tax Ethics Seminar (0 cr) OR Tax Practice and Procedure
Two of the following three courses:
Tax Research
Tax Seminar
Writing for Tax Practice

Elective Courses*

Business Succession Planning
Comparative Income Tax
Comparative Value Added Tax
Consolidated Corporations
Corporate Reorganizations
Criminal Tax
Elder Law
ERISA Regulation of Retirement Plans
Estate and Gift Taxation
Estate Planning
Estate Planning: Advanced
Estate Planning & Drafting
Executive Compensation
Exempt Organizations
Inbound International Taxation
International Estate Planning
International Information Reporting and Withholding
Life Cycle of a Business Venture
Outbound International Tax
Opportunity Zones
State and Local Taxation
Tax Law of Accounting Methods
Tax Accounting for Financial Statements
Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business
Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving
Tax Aspects of International Business
Tax and Technology
Tax Fraud and Technology
Tax Seminar
Transfer Pricing & Supply Chains
Taxation and Regulation of Cryptocurrency
Taxation of Bankruptcies and Workouts
Taxation of Financial Products: Policy and Theory
Taxation of Intellectual Property
Taxation of S-Corporations
Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries
US and International Tax Policy
US Transfer Pricing
World of Limited Liability Companies
Writing for Tax Practice

Concentrations and Emphasis Areas

MSL-Tax students are free to specialize their learning according to their own interests through concentrations and emphasis areas. Concentrations are composed of a certain number of required and elective courses, and the completion of a concentration is reflected on a student’s transcript. An emphasis area, on the other hand, is a series of courses that center around a particular theme in tax law but does not have required courses and is not listed on a student’s transcript.

Estate Planning

Students must complete all three of the required courses and any of the three listed electives to earn a concentration in estate planning. Students merely interested in learning more about estate planning but not willing to fulfill the requirements of the concentration should look at the courses in the estate planning emphasis area.

Required Courses

LAW TX 904 Estate and Gift Taxation
LAW TX 935 Estate Planning
LAW TX 937 Taxation of Trusts and Fiduciaries

Elective Courses

LAW TX 918 Life Cycle of a Business Venture
LAW TX 920 Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business
LAW TX 930 Partnership Tax I
LAW TX 933 Introduction to Corporate Tax
LAW TX 934 Estate Planning—Advanced
LAW TX 950 Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving
LAW TX 958 International Estate Planning
LAW TX 969 Business Succession Planning
LAW TX 975 Estate Planning and Drafting
LAW TX 977 Elder Law

General Business Taxation

A student who has a background in basic federal income taxation and corporate taxation and who wishes to concentrate on business tax issues should consider the following elective courses:

Consolidated Corporations
Corporate Reorganizations
Executive Compensation
Life Cycle of a Business Venture
State and Local Taxation
Tax Accounting for Financial Statements
Tax Law of Accounting Methods
Tax Aspects of Buying and Selling a Business
Tax and Technology
Taxation of Bankruptcies and Workouts
Taxation of Intellectual Property
World of LLCs

Estate Planning

Students not able to commit to the full concentration in estate planning but interested in learning more about it should consider the following elective courses: