New York Law School LL.M. in Taxation in 2027

Taught in lower Manhattan by New York City tax practitioners, New York Law School's Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation packs 24 credits, five concentrations and a capstone of advanced tax planning seminars into a program you can take full time or part time, at $2,451 per credit.

New York Law School is an independent law school in lower Manhattan, and its Graduate Tax Program serves a wide mix of people. The school says it reaches established tax professionals, business executives, real estate specialists, financial product designers and advisors, and recent law school graduates.

Many students study part time while working for major corporations, banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions. Professor Ann F. Thomas leads the program, after 17 years in the corporate tax department at a New York firm, where she specialized in mergers and acquisitions.

Alongside the full-time faculty, numerous accomplished New York City tax practitioners teach as adjuncts.

You apply with a J.D. or an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) from an American Bar Association-approved American law school, or the foreign equivalent, plus two letters of recommendation, a personal statement and a resume. A basic federal income taxation course is a prerequisite for all courses in the program, and if you don't have a U.S. J.D., you can satisfy it by enrolling in TAX 100 in the first semester.

Courses completed in the Graduate Tax Program qualify for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit for newly admitted and experienced attorneys, at 14 CLE credits for every academic course credit hour. The school's accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

The full-time faculty brings government and firm experience too: one tax professor began his career as a trial attorney in the Internal Revenue Service's Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Working attorneys in the city: part-time study is common, and fewer than 8 credits a semester counts as part time, so you can fit coursework around a job.
• Recent New York Law School graduates: alumni who begin the LL.M. within two years of graduating receive a scholarship equal to 50 percent of tuition.
• Current J.D. students at the school: the accelerated J.D./LL.M. lets you finish the LL.M. in a single final semester after your Juris Doctor (J.D.).
• Estate planners and trusts lawyers: the estate planning concentration is backed by Estate Planning, Estate Administration and New York Wills Practice.

You complete eight core courses and one two-credit advanced tax planning seminar, within at least 24 credits. The core builds the technical base. Federal Income Tax: Corporate looks at the corporate entity, transfers of property in organizing a corporation, distributions and stock redemptions. Federal Income Tax: Partnership covers formation, operation, distributions, retirement of partners and guaranteed payments.

Problems of Timing handles when income and deductions land, and Tax of Property Transactions comes in two parts, one on general sales and exchanges and one on intangibles such as patents, copyrights and trademarks. Tax Procedure and Tax Practice follows audits, summonses, penalties and interest, and Professional Responsibility in Federal Tax Practice covers ethics in planning, return preparation and contested matters before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In Tax Research and Writing Seminar, you do intensive training in research methods and then prepare a private letter ruling request. Then you choose a concentration: corporate tax, estate planning, international taxation, general taxation or tax litigation. The program culminates in a capstone of advanced tax planning seminars in your concentration.

Electives include Advanced Corporate Tax, State and Local Taxation, Taxation of Banks and Financial Institutions and Employee Compensation and Benefits. If you pick tax litigation, the Tax Litigation Seminar covers federal tax controversies before the U.S. Tax Court, District Court, Court of Claims and Bankruptcy Court. A graduate tax externship places you with supervising attorneys, at IRS District Counsel, or in federal, state and local tax agencies.

Courses the School Names

• Federal Income Tax: Corporate
• Federal Income Tax: Partnership
• Tax Procedure and Tax Practice
• Tax Research and Writing Seminar
• International Taxation
• Advanced Wealth Transfer Planning
• Taxation of Banks and Financial Institutions
• State and Local Taxation

Standout Features

• Accelerated J.D./LL.M. in Taxation lets J.D. students finish the LL.M. in a single final semester
• Alumni of NYLS who start the LL.M. within two years of graduating receive a scholarship equal to 50 percent of tuition
• Courses count for CLE credit for attorneys
• Full-time or part-time study, with many students studying part-time while working
• Readers of the New York Law Journal have frequently ranked the Tax LL.M. No. 1 in New York City in the Best Banking/Bankruptcy/Tax LL.M. category
• Recipients of the LL.M. in Taxation may audit additional NYLS courses at no cost

The degree is 24 credits, and the school says two to four post-J.D. semesters is typical for an LL.M. You must finish within five years of matriculation. Eight credits a semester is full time. If you register for fewer than eight, you're part time, and many students in the program study that way while working.

New York Law School also offers summer programs for people who want to accelerate their study during the summer. You can take fewer core courses if you petition for a waiver based on comparable courses elsewhere, and you can substitute up to four credits from other courses at the school or from another LL.M. in Taxation program.

The school lists four ways to complete the degree. Besides standard graduate study, J.D. students at the school can take the accelerated J.D./LL.M., adding six credits to the J.D. and then finishing the LL.M. in one final semester.

Through the Advanced Studies Program, they can also earn 6 to 9 advanced-standing credits for certain upper-level courses if they start the LL.M. within five years of the J.D. The fall application deadline is June 1.

Tuition is $2,451 per credit, and with 24 credits that's $58,824. Scholarships can change that. Alumni of New York Law School who begin the LL.M. within two years of graduating receive a scholarship equal to 50 percent of tuition, and participants in the accelerated program receive the same 50 percent scholarship on their post-J.D. studies.

Advanced-standing credits from the Advanced Studies Program can count toward your 24 credits or be applied to reduce graduate tuition. Applying is free, since the school doesn't charge an application fee. Recipients of the LL.M. may audit additional courses at the school at no cost, and alumni keep free auditing privileges.

24 credits at $2,451 a credit comes to $58,824 in tuition, before fees.

It's an in-person program in New York City, taught on the school's lower Manhattan campus. You attend classes with other tax students, and the part-time schedule is how many students keep working for corporations, banks and insurance companies while they study.

Not every course is offered every year, so you'll plan your sequence with the program director. If you want to try a course first, the school lets you apply to take one or more courses in the Graduate Tax Program without becoming a degree candidate.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

The clearest public signal comes from a reader poll. Readers of the New York Law Journal have frequently voted the school's Tax LL.M. first in New York City in the Banking/Bankruptcy/Tax LL.M. category, and a school news post in 2021 reported that readers had done so statewide for a 12th straight year.

In 2010, TaxProf Blog reported that the Law Journal's first rankings named the school's program the leading tax LL.M. in New York. The school adds that its courses are taught by renowned experts and receive high marks from practitioners.

• Which concentration, corporate tax, estate planning, international taxation, general taxation or tax litigation, fits your practice?
• Do you qualify for a core waiver or the four-credit substitution, and how does that change your semester count?
• Which courses are offered in the semesters you plan to attend, since not every course runs every year?
• Do you qualify for the 50 percent alumni scholarship or the accelerated J.D./LL.M.?

An independent law school in lower Manhattan, New York City.

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 36 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 19 of 37, master's
• Part-Time Programs Rank 20 of 39, master's
• Best for Working Professionals Rank 23 of 46, master's
• Best for Parents Rank 23 of 46, master's
• Private University Programs Rank 20 of 43, master's
• Internship or Practicum Rank 14 of 24, master's
• LLM in Taxation Rank 17 of 22, master's
• International Taxation Rank 11 of 12, master's
• Best Programs in New York Rank 6 of 11, master's

• University of Baltimore

  Master of Science in Taxation

  Maryland $1,125 per credit Score 56.3

• Washington University in St Louis

  LL.M. in Taxation (In Person)

  Missouri Score 55.1

• University of Denver

  LLM in Taxation

  Colorado Score 56.4

• New York University

  Taxation

  New York Score 56.5