Golden Gate University LLM in Taxation in 2027

If you already practice law and want tax depth without moving, Golden Gate University's online Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation covers 27 units taught by tax practitioners from the private and public sectors. Tuition runs $1,860 per unit, and up to six units can transfer in.

This degree comes out of the Bruce F. Braden School of Taxation in San Francisco, a private nonprofit university that serves working adults. Golden Gate says its LL.M. in Taxation has been recognized for four decades as one of the top graduate tax programs in the country.

You apply with a Juris Doctor (J.D.), and the courses are built around the work of a practicing tax lawyer: research, statutory reading, planning and representing a client. Golden Gate says courses are taught by tax practitioners from federal taxing authorities, businesses, and law and accounting firms of all sizes.

The school also says demand for skilled attorneys in this practice area has grown substantially and is predicted to continue.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

You'll need a J.D. to enter, and the LL.M. builds on it with 27 units of tax law. Golden Gate describes the coursework as preparing you to identify tax issues, find and analyze the relevant primary authority, and know the ethics and standards that apply to tax practitioners.

For employer links, the Braden School says the Big Four and Global Six firms hire its graduates and regularly send employees to update their tax education. A tax attorney writing about the school in 2017 said its downtown San Francisco location is walking distance to KPMG, Ernst & Young, PwC and other tax and accounting firms.

The one-on-one career counseling and the alumni network are part of what Golden Gate lists with the degree.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Practicing attorneys who want a tax specialty: the degree is open only to J.D. holders, and the format is online, so you can study while you work.
• Estate planners: electives include Estate Planning I, Estate and Gift Taxation, and Federal Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates.
• Lawyers who already studied tax elsewhere: up to six units from an American Bar Association-accredited J.D. or another LL.M. can transfer in, which shortens your path.
• Attorneys who want hands-on experience: tax and estate planning internships and externships can count for up to six units.

Your 27 units start with an 18-unit required core. Tax Research (LLM 317A) opens the sequence with legislative processes, the Internal Revenue Code and electronic research, and Advanced Tax Research and Writing (LLM 329B) is writing intensive, with practical projects that have you resolve specific tax issues using electronic research tools. Advanced Federal Income Taxation (LLM 318) is one of your first two advanced seminars.

Property Transactions (LLM 330) covers capital assets and nonrecognition rules. That includes Internal Revenue Code Sections 121, 1031 and 1033. Corporations and Shareholders I (LLM 322A) follows transfers to a corporation, dividends, redemptions and liquidations, and Partners and Partnerships (LLM 328) handles distributions, withdrawals and dissolutions.

You'll finish the core with one of two courses, either Tax Timing or Federal Tax Procedure, which surveys dealings with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and its Office of the Chief Counsel. Nine more units come from electives: Choice of Entity, Principles of International Taxation, State Sales & Use Tax, Individual Retirement Plans and Distributions, and Corporations and Shareholders II, among others.

The program's stated outcomes include researching primary authority, reaching well-reasoned written conclusions, and representing a client in a tax controversy.

Courses the School Names

• Choice of Entity
• Estate and Gift Taxation
• Estate Planning I
• Federal Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates
• Individual Retirement Plans and Distributions
• Principles of International Taxation
• Multistate Tax of Business Entities
• State Sales & Use Tax

Standout Features

• Courses taught by tax practitioners from the private and public sectors, including federal taxing authorities, businesses, and law and accounting firms
• One-on-one career counseling and an alumni network for networking
• Recognized for four decades as one of the top graduate tax programs in the country

The degree is 27 units. The required core carries 18 of them, including the one-unit Tax Research course and the two-unit Advanced Tax Research and Writing course, and the remaining nine units are electives. Golden Gate lets you transfer up to six qualifying units from an American Bar Association-accredited J.D. or another LL.M. toward the degree, so a transfer can take your remaining work down to 21 units.

Up to six units of internship or externship experience can also count. You'll need a cumulative grade point average of 2.50 on a 4.0 scale to graduate.

Golden Gate charges $1,860 per unit for its LL.M. degree programs. At 27 units, the program's full tuition is $50,220. Units you transfer in from an American Bar Association-accredited J.D. or another LL.M. count toward the 27, so with the six-unit maximum you take as few as 21 units at Golden Gate's rate.

27 credits at $1,860 a credit comes to $50,220 in tuition, before fees.

It's online, and you can complete the whole LL.M. that way without relocating to San Francisco. The courses run in a set order. Tax Research (LLM 317A) and Advanced Federal Income Taxation (LLM 318) come first. Property Transactions (LLM 330) is taken alongside them.

Advanced Tax Research and Writing (LLM 329B) follows once 317A and 318 are done. Corporations and Shareholders I and Partners and Partnerships both build on Property Transactions. Golden Gate's career center adds individual career consulting, internship and employment assistance, networking events, resume books and online internship and job listings, and the law school's alumni network offers more networking.

What you hear about Golden Gate centers on flexibility and practitioner teachers. A master's student reviewing the school on a college review site in 2024 said the programs let students shape a degree to fit their lifestyle, and called the flexibility for non-traditional students the best part.

A commenter on an accounting forum in 2026 said Golden Gate's online classes make it possible to keep working, and that some Big Four colleagues took one class a semester and got reimbursed by their employers. The 2017 tax attorney's post said working professionals aren't only the students but also the teachers, because the campus sits in San Francisco's financial district.

And in a 2012 release, Golden Gate reported that tax hiring authorities surveyed by JobsInTax placed its LL.M. Tax program among the top 10 in the country.

• Which of the 27 units can transfer in from your J.D. or another LL.M., and what's your remaining unit count?
• Would a tax or estate planning internship or externship count for up to six units in your case?
• Do you want the Tax Timing course or the Federal Tax Procedure course to finish your required core?
• Which nine units of electives fit your practice, such as estate planning, international tax or state and local tax?

A private nonprofit university in San Francisco, California, serving working adults. Its Bruce F. Braden School of Taxation offers the taxation degrees.

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 18 of 78, master's
• Online Master's in Taxation Rank 9 of 41, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 8 of 40, master's
• Private University Programs Rank 9 of 43, master's
• Internship or Practicum Rank 8 of 24, master's
• LLM in Taxation Rank 7 of 22, master's
• Best Programs in California Rank 5 of 12, master's

• Master of Science in Taxation

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $1,250 per credit Score 62.1

• University of San Diego

  LL.M. in Taxation (Online)

  California $1,200 per credit Score 62.2

• University of San Diego

  LL.M. in Taxation

  California Score 62.0

• University of Cincinnati

  Master of Science in Taxation (Online)

  Ohio $1,260 per credit Score 61.7

• Taft University System

  Master of Science in Taxation (MST)

  Colorado $600 per credit Score 62.7