University of California-Irvine LL.M. in Taxation (Graduate Tax Program) in 2027

UC Irvine's Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation builds practice into the degree: at least four of your 24 credits come from an externship, a clinic or a designated skills course. You study in residence in Irvine, full time over two semesters or part time over three to four.

The School of Law launched its Graduate Tax Program in 2019, and the school says it's the only program of its kind to require practical tax training. It names tax attorney, judge, tax administrator and policy advocate as the careers it prepares you for.

Three full-time founding tax professors, Omri Marian, Joshua Blank and Victor Fleischer, anchor the faculty, joined by lecturers from firms such as Proskauer and from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. You take the core courses as one cohort, and the program aims to keep classes small.

Admission starts with a law degree: a J.D. from a school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), a J.D. from a non-ABA school plus a U.S. law license, or a home-country law degree or license with an English test score if you trained abroad.

You also send two recommendation letters, and the committee weighs your commitment to a career in tax law or tax policy above everything else. The school says that if you're a foreign-trained attorney in good standing, you generally qualify for the California Bar Examination without more legal education.

For jobs, employers interview on campus each fall, and the Tax Attorney Recruiting Event puts more than 150 tax LL.M. students from UC Irvine, Boston University, Florida and Northwestern in front of accounting firms, law firms and companies. You also get a resume book for tax employers and a practicing tax attorney as a mentor.

Graduates featured by the school work at PwC, KPMG, EY, DLA Piper, Holland & Knight and Bet Tzedek Legal Services.

Where this degree can lead: Masters in Taxation Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Lawyers who want to argue tax cases: the Tax Advocacy Clinic, open to Tax LL.M. students since fall 2026, gives you primary responsibility for audits, collection actions and cases before the U.S. Tax Court.
• Foreign-trained lawyers: a home-country law degree or license qualifies you, and International Jurist's 2025 Honor Roll for foreign-trained attorneys named the program among the highest rated of its kind on the West Coast.
• Former federal tax attorneys: a $20,000 scholarship is set aside for Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Justice Department tax attorneys who lost jobs or job offers in the 2025 hiring freeze.
• UC Irvine Law Juris Doctor (J.D.) students: with at least 10 J.D. tax credits, up to 12 count toward the LL.M., leaving one semester in residence.
• Lawyers drawn to cross-border work: International Taxation is required, and the school says it is the only U.S. tax program with an externship agreement with the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD) in Amsterdam.

Half of the 24 credits are fixed. In the fall you take Corporate Taxation (4 credits) and International Taxation (4 credits). You also take Tax Practice and Procedure (1 credit). Then it's Partnership Taxation (3 credits) in the spring. Each spring the Tax Policy Colloquium brings five or six visiting scholars to present works in progress, and it can also count for elective credit.

At least four of your 12 elective credits go to Practical Tax Skills. Clinics run every spring for 4 credits. In past semesters the Appellate Tax Clinic drafted friend-of-the-court briefs, and the California State Tax Clinic represented low-income taxpayers disputing state sales and use tax assessments. Externships are worth up to 8 credits, with partners such as SpaceX, Mayer Brown, the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board.

Skills courses from earlier semesters include Tax Deals, Tax Modeling for Lawyers and Tax Law and Data Analytics Practicum. If you trained outside the United States, Introduction to American Law (2 credits) takes the place of 2 elective credits, and an intensive Introduction to United States Taxation runs during orientation week.

Courses the School Names

• Practical Tax Controversy Skills
• Tax Deals
• Tax Law and Data Analytics Practicum
• Tax Modeling for Lawyers
• Tax Planning for M&A and Real Estate Transactions
• Tax Planning for Small and Medium Size Businesses

Standout Features

• $20,000 LITC scholarships and the A. Lavar Taylor Endowed Tax Law Scholarship
• Accelerated LL.M. for UC Irvine Law J.D. graduates (up to 12 J.D. tax credits count)
• Annual Tax Attorney Recruiting Event shared with Boston University, Florida and Northwestern tax LL.M. programs
• Exclusive externship agreement with IBFD in Amsterdam
• Merit scholarships of up to 50% of tuition considered for every admitted applicant
• New Tax Advocacy Clinic (fall 2026) and Appellate Tax Clinic
• Small class sizes
• Tax Practice Mentorship Program pairs each student with a practicing tax attorney
• The only program of its kind to require practical tax training
• Three core full-time tax professors plus practitioner lecturers from Big Four, large law firms and California tax agencies
• Up to 10 credits can be taken online through live-streamed dual-mode classes

Plan on 24 credits. Full time, you're in residence for at least two consecutive semesters, fall then spring. Part time, you carry 6 to 8 credits a semester and finish in three to four semesters. You choose before you enroll, and the choice holds for the whole degree.

You have three academic years to finish unless the Academic Director grants a waiver. Fall is the only start. Admissions are rolling from September. If you're a U.S. applicant, you're encouraged to apply by July 1. Non-U.S. applicants are encouraged to apply by February 1.

UC Irvine sets flat program fees rather than a per-credit price. The full-time cohort entering in fall 2026 pays $30,000 per semester, or $60,000 for the year. With campus fees and student health insurance, that's $69,416.81. Part time, the fee is $15,000 per semester, or $30,000 per year. Applying is free, and every admitted applicant is considered for the Graduate Tax Merit Scholarship, worth up to 50% of tuition.

A $20,000 Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) scholarship goes to students who volunteered 125 hours at an LITC or worked at one for six months. It's paid at $10,000 per semester full time. Seven students in the Classes of 2026 and 2027 have received it. The A. Lavar Taylor Endowed Tax Law Scholarship, funded by a $250,000 gift, adds more support.

Classes meet in person in Irvine, and you complete the degree in an in-class format while in residence. Externship time counts as in class, and the spring timetable leaves room to spend real time at your externship site.

For up to 10 credits you can pick dual-mode courses, attending in the classroom or live on Zoom at the regular class time, an option reserved for Graduate Tax LL.M. students. The program names its dual-mode courses with each semester's catalog, and you declare before the first class which way you'll attend.

The full rubric is on the methodology page.

Practical training is what alumni bring up most. A 2020 graduate on the school's testimonials page credited the experiential focus with making students practice-ready, and a classmate looked forward to handling client matters in the California State Tax Clinic.

A 2022 graduate valued the small classes and near unlimited access to scholars, and a 2024 graduate pointed to faculty research, an externship at a Fortune 500 company and the alumni network. An admitted applicant posting on an LL.M. forum in 2021 called the program top notch after speaking with numerous faculty members.

The director of the California Office of Tax Appeals said in 2026 that the new clinic adds to the resources available to Californians. preLaw Magazine gave the program an A grade for tax law, and the school reports a TaxProf Blog ranking that placed it first in California and eighth nationally.

• Which clinic or externship fits my goals for the Practical Tax Skills credits?
• Should I commit to full time or part time, knowing the choice holds for the whole degree?
• Which courses will be dual-mode in the semesters I plan to attend?
• How would a merit award combine with an LITC or federal workforce scholarship?

A public research university in Irvine, California. Its School of Law launched the Graduate Tax Program in 2019.

• Best Master's in Taxation Rank 22 of 78, master's
• On-Campus Master's in Taxation Rank 12 of 37, master's
• Part-Time Programs Rank 11 of 39, master's
• Best for Working Professionals Rank 13 of 46, master's
• Best for Parents Rank 13 of 46, master's
• Public University Programs Rank 12 of 35, master's
• Internship or Practicum Rank 10 of 24, master's
• LLM in Taxation Rank 10 of 22, master's
• Best Programs in California Rank 7 of 12, master's

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