For a complete list of course offerings in Taxation, including full descriptions and faculty who will be teaching the offerings in 2008-2009, refer to the online Curriculum Guide.
Issues of federal income taxation require close analysis in the context of virtually all business transactions, even in an era when transactions primarily motivated by tax considerations have diminished. The complexity of the Internal Revenue Code has grown dramatically in spite of repeated calls for (and occasional efforts at) simplification, and the tax lawyer today is almost always a specialist and frequently a sub-specialist. In addition, tax policy issues have played an increasing role in the discussion of national economic policy. The Law School offers basic and advanced courses and seminars that cover all the areas of taxation traditionally covered in the curriculum. The curriculum is designed to provide basic background to students who do not expect to practice in the tax area as well as a more specialized concentration for students who are considering tax practice as a career.
Three sections of the introductory course, Federal Income Taxation, are offered. In most years, sections of Corporate Taxation, Taxation on Financial Instruments and International Taxation are offered. Other course offering topics include partnership taxation, trusts and estate planning. Seminar offerings in the tax field vary from year to year, depending on the teaching schedule of full-time faculty members and on the availability of distinguished members of the New York tax bar who have contributed to specialized tax offerings. Seminars in recent years have focused on such areas as tax issues arising from general tax policy, bankruptcy, taxation of real estate transactions, estate planning, trust administration, advanced problems in corporate taxation and the role of the Supreme Court in tax law.
