Program Requirements

Master of Tax Law students may elect either of two tracks: the standard track or a track intended to help students meet the fifth year requirements for California CPA licensure. Either may be completed on a full-time or part-time basis.

Standard Track

Students on the standard track must meet the same requirements as students in Loyola’s Tax LLM program: they must satisfactorily complete 24 units of advanced tax law coursework (see course descriptions below), including seven required 2-unit courses:

  • Corporate Taxation I
  • Corporate Taxation II
  • Income Tax Timing Issues
  • Income Taxation of Property Transactions
  • Partnership Taxation I
  • Partnership Taxation II
  • Tax Practice and Procedure

and 10 units of electives.

CPA-licensure track

Students on the CPA-licensure track must complete 22 units of advanced tax law coursework, including the same seven required 2-unit courses listed above, a 2-unit course on Tax Ethics, and 6 units of advanced tax law electives. In addition, they must complete 8 units of non-tax “Ethics” coursework from among the following:

  • Business Law 1: Business Associations (4 units)
  • Business Law 2: Securities Regulation (3 units)
  • Business Law 3: Corporate Finance (3 units)
  • Business Law 4: International Business Transactions (3 units)
  • Business Law 5: Financial Analysis (2 units)
  • Business Law 6: Commercial Real Estate Transactions and Finance (2 units)

With permission of the Director, students who have completed units that count towards the 10-unit “Ethics” requirement may have up to 8 of such units waived. Two additional units of advanced tax law coursework must be substituted for the first two such units waived.

Income Taxation I

In addition to the foregoing, if students on either track have not previously completed an introductory course on income taxation, they must complete Income Taxation I (3 units) prior to or during their first semester in the program or enroll in Income Taxation Intensive (see below).

Substitution of Intensive Summer Session Courses

With permission of the Director, students on either track may substitute Income Taxation Intensive (a 6-unit course taught only in the summer term) for Income Taxation I, Income Tax Timing Issues, and Income Taxation of Property Transactions; they may also substitute Business Taxation Intensive (a 6-unit course taught only in the summer term) for Corporate Taxation I & II and Partnership Taxation I & II.

Full-time students on the CPA-licensure track who make the foregoing substitution will therefore complete 12 units during the summer and 18 additional units spread over the fall and spring semesters, allowing them to complete California’s “fifth year” requirement in one 12-month period.