Consistently ranked one of the top law schools for tax, UVA Law School prepares students for tax careers in government, private practice, business and the nonprofit sector. Among the nation’s top scholars, the Law School’s tax faculty are known for converting students who are fearful of studying tax into fans of the field. They bring experience from Congress, the Treasury Department and private practice. In addition to their scholarly endeavors, the faculty remain engaged with practice organizations such as the ABA Tax Section, the American Law Institute, Congress, the Treasury Department and the IRS.
The Law School offers one of the strongest tax law curricula in the country, including courses in corporate, partnership and international tax; tax policy; taxation of private equity; gratuitous transfers; nonprofits; and employee benefits, among many others. The Law School is home to the Virginia Tax Review, the nation’s leading student-edited tax journal. In addition to their work in the classroom and on the journal, students regularly win top tax prizes, both at home and abroad.
Virginia’s alumni practice tax in a variety of settings. They hold leadership positions in top law and accounting firms, smaller firms specializing in tax, all branches of government and the nonprofit sector. Alumni have joined academia, launched firms focused on tax law, managed the taxes of corporations such as Exxon Mobil and Amazon, served in the U.S. Office of the Legislative Counsel, and held leadership positions at the IRS, including as commissioner.
Faculty, students and alumni also learn about cutting-edge issues in tax from the Virginia Tax Study Group meeting at the Law School, an annual tradition that brings together alumni from practice, government and academia. In the fall, the annual UVA Invitational Tax Conference brings leading tax academics to Grounds to discuss scholarly works in progress. Students are invited to attend both meetings. During the summer, the Law School hosts the Virginia Conference on Federal Taxation, an annual conference that marked its 70th anniversary in 2018.
UVA Law professor Ruth Mason explains why the 2008 recession and the subsequent global effort to curb corporate tax dodging transformed international tax. The lecture marked her appointment as Edwin S. Cohen Distinguished Professor of Law and Taxation. Dean Risa Goluboff introduces Mason.
This article takes an in-depth look at the deeply flawed EU Court of Justice decision in the Apple state aid case. We discuss whether any legitimate...
Over the past twenty-five years, Congress has enacted several major reforms for employer-sponsored retirement plans and individual retirement accounts...
This article takes an in-depth look at the deeply flawed EU Court of Justice decision in the Apple state aid case. We discuss whether any legitimate...
Over the past twenty-five years, Congress has enacted several major reforms for employer-sponsored retirement plans and individual retirement accounts...
At the inception of a new and potentially transformative type of tax enforcement, this Article reviews the goals underlying the prohibition on state...
Income tax law and policy are fundamentally intertwined with private markets—causal effects run in both directions. The vitality of public markets can...
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 provoked the imposition of economic sanctions that are unprecedented in their swiftness, severity, and novelty...
A division exists between scholars who claim that Congress made only limited delegations to executive officials in the early Republic, and those who...
In this article, Mason explains how the OECD's proposed Pillar 2 global minimum tax rules induce cooperation by states, and how the proposal to enact...
In this article, Mason explains why the Commission lost the Fiat state-aid appeal before the Court of Justice of the European Union. She also argues...
Shifts in academic paradigms are rare. Still, it was not long ago that the values taken to govern the private law were thought to be distinct from the...
Many jurisdictions determine real property taxes based on a combination of current market values and the recent history of market values, introducing...
This article provides a detailed summary of the General Court of the European Union’s judgment in Amazon and analyzes what it means for the future of...
In this article, the authors propose property tax reforms that would allow local governments to raise property tax revenue while protecting vulnerable...
People make mistakes with debt, partly because the chance to buy now and pay later tempts them to do things that are not in their long-term interest...
This Essay argues that EU taxpayers may challenge digital services taxes as violations of EU law. Specifically, because they exempt all but the very...
Yale Law professors Anne Alstott and Amy Kapczynski discuss the forthcoming Yale Law Journal article “Building a Law-and-Political-Economy Framework: Beyond the Twentieth-Century Synthesis," written by Jedediah S. Britton-Purdy, David Singh Grewal, Amy Kapczynski and Sabeel K. Rahman. UVA Law professor Ruth Mason, Oxford University professor Tsilly Dagan and other legal scholars comment on the work. This event was held as part of the “Tax Meets Non-Tax” Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs workshop series that builds bridges from tax to other kinds of scholarship.
UVA Law students can choose from an extensive selection of courses that cover all major areas of tax law. Students have the flexibility to construct a curriculum of broad-based instruction in the field or to concentrate on a specialized area of interest, such as international tax.
The following is a list of courses offered during 2022-25. Numbers in parentheses indicate which academic year(s) the courses were offered, i.e., 2022-23 is coded (23), 2023-24 is coded (24) and 2024-25 is coded (25). (SC) stands for short course and (YR) stands for yearlong.
Accounting: Understanding and Analyzing Financial Statements (23,24,25) Cannabis Legalization (SC) (24) Corporate Tax (23,24,25) Employee Benefits Law (25) Estate Planning: Principles and Practice (23,24,25) Federal Income Tax (23,24,25) International Tax Practicum (YR) (23,24,25) International Taxation (23,24,25) Nonprofit Organizations (23,24,25) Nonprofit Organizations: Principles and Practice (23,24,25) Partnership Tax (23,24,25) Practical Trust and Estate Administration (23,24,25) Public Law Colloquium (25) TaxFlix (SC) (23) Tax Practice and Procedure Seminar (23) Tax Treaties and Other International Tax Topics (23,24,25) Trusts and Estates (23,24,25)
Tax study begins with a foundational course, Federal Income Taxation. The class introduces the concept of income, income exclusions and exemptions, non-business deductions, deductions for business expenses, basic tax accounting, assignment of income, and capital gains and losses. It situates income tax in government and business, and covers policy issues arising from the incentive and distributional effects of tax law. Because of the importance of the federal income tax, and the role of lawyers in the tax system, tax professors recommend that every student take the basic course at some time during his or her law school career. The course is a prerequisite to all other tax courses.
Other Courses
Students planning careers in tax law should take Corporate Tax, Partnership Tax and International Tax.
In addition to these core courses, the Law School offers many specialized tax courses.
Students have many opportunities to learn about tax outside of the classroom. For example, each year, up to four students may participate in an international tax moot court competition that takes place in Belgium. Students have externed with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel and state tax administrations, and their papers have won tax competitions. See Learning Outside the Classroom for more information.
Certain property tax schemes designed to give rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods a tax break might be disproportionately benefiting white homebuyers, explains Professor Andrew Hayashi on the latest episode of “Common Law,” a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law.
Columbia Law School professor Katharina Pistor discusses a chapter from her book “The Code of Capital,” for the Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs workshop series that builds bridges from tax to other kinds of scholarship. UVA Law professor Ruth Mason and Oxford University professor Tsilly Dagan comment on Pistor’s work.
Students interested in tax law have access to a variety of extracurricular activities.
International Tax Moot Court
Each year, up to four students may participate in the International Tax Practicum, a yearlong skills course that uses a mock tax treaty litigation as a lens for studying issues in international tax law. As part of this course, students compete in the International and European Moot Court Competition with teams from all over the world. Students learn to identify legal issues raised by a fact pattern, and they draft briefs for both the government and taxpayer on the issues raised by the moot. If the UVA team’s briefs are strong enough, the team travels to Belgium to compete in the oral phase of the competition against teams from other schools. The weeklong competition features lectures by prominent tax professors and judges as well as a trip to the European Union’s Commission in Brussels.
Since it began competing in 2017, the UVA Law team has been a strong contender each year. In 2018, UVA became the first U.S. team ever to win the competition.
Admission to this course is by application in the spring semester. Professor Ruth Mason is the faculty adviser. More
Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs
Tax Meets Non-Tax
In an environment of increasing academic specialization, Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs seeks to build bridges across academic disciplines by introducing a new kind of workshop. For each session, a tax scholar will select a non-tax, but legal, work that is prominent in its own field and explain how the work is relevant to the study of taxation. The author of the work will then respond before we open the session to questions and discussion by workshop attendees. More
Virginia Law & Business Review
The Virginia Law & Business Review is one of only a few student-edited business law journals among top law schools. The review regularly holds conferences on current business topics.
Virginia Tax Review
The Virginia Tax Review is the nation’s leading student-edited tax journal. Also one of the oldest journals at the Law School, the journal focuses primarily on issues of federal and international taxation.
Virginia Tax Study Group
The Virginia Tax Study Group is a gathering of alumni from practice, government and academia to discuss the pressing tax problems of the day. Students are invited to attend this lively conference.
Volunteer Income Tax Association (VITA)
The award-winningVITA helps low- and moderate-income clients prepare their tax returns.
University of Virginia School of Law Professor Ruth Mason and Koen Lenaerts, president of the Court of Justice of the European Union, helped kick off the newly established Max Planck Hub Fiscal and Social State and its lecture series “The Future of the Fiscal State and the Social State in the European Union.”
Professor Guido Alfani of Bocconi University discusses economic inequality in preindustrial times, centralized in Europe and beyond. Alfani was recently published in the Journal of Economic Literature. Professor Ted Seto of Loyola Law School provides commentary, and UVA Law professor Ruth Mason and Oxford University professor Tsilly Dagan also discuss the work. This event was held as part of the “Tax Meets Non-Tax” Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs workshop series that builds bridges from tax to other kinds of scholarship.
Will Morris LL.M. ’89, global tax policy leader at PwC, discussed careers in tax law at a Virginia Tax Study Group meeting.
3 Paths to Tax Law
The paths that UVA Law alumni have taken to become tax lawyers vary, but they all have in common an alma mater that fosters a love for tax, with courses taught by experts seasoned in the field. Alumni have joined academia, launched firms focused on tax law, managed the taxes of corporations such as Exxon Mobil and Amazon, served in the U.S. Office of the Legislative Counsel, and held leadership positions at the IRS.
Meet three alums who continue the distinguished tradition of Law School representation in this area.
I went to law school to be a public defender with the goal of saving the world — I fell well short of that mark! I think I made the final switch away from being a public defender in my first semester, second year, when I took my first tax class. I realized then that being a tax lawyer would not be about crunching numbers or filling out tax returns. Instead, it was about complex analysis of facts and law — including statutes, regulations, case law and IRS rulings, etc. My parents had suggested back when I was in college that being a tax lawyer could be good because “there will always be tax law.” Moreover, my then-girlfriend and wife of almost 35 years gently mentioned that tax lawyer might provide a higher standard of living than being a public defender!
Did any of your UVA Law professors influence your decision to go into tax law? If so, who was it and how did they encourage or inspire you?
I had a wide range of tax professors at UVA that certainly affirmed the tax field as an interesting field of practice. These included Hank Gutman, who used the phrase for tax planning that “pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.” I still use this phrase often when discussing options with clients. Also, Bill McKee, Tom White, Saul Levmore and Julie Roin. And I could not forget the tax class I took with Mortimer Caplin (a future partner of mine) that really ramped up our enthusiasm for the dynamic nature of tax practice; he also resolved our concerns about tax practice becoming obsolete with the ongoing process of passing the 1986 Tax Act. Mort and Bill and Hank each also created a real desire in us for government service (as they each had) which helped lead me to run the international tax groups at IRS Chief Counsel and at Treasury.
Did any of your classmates at UVA Law join you in tax practice and have you remained in touch with them?
In law classes and on the Tax Review, I studied and worked on publications with many fellow students. Alveno Castilla, Sonny Talley and Peggy Israel, among many others, inspired me to pursue tax law as a profession. We have stayed in touch over the years.
What has been your experience with the Virginia Tax Study Group?
The Virginia Tax Study Group is an excellent tax conference. I am on the boards of several tax conferences and speak (pandemics aside) often. I have been privileged to be a panelist several times at VTSG and to have attended often. It has sometimes conflicted with a conference I help run in Europe, so I have missed some dates for VTSG, but I make it whenever I can. Mort Caplin and Eddie Cohen were huge supporters, so that conference means a great deal to me.
U.S. Competent Authority Analyst, Treaty Assistance and Interpretation Team, Internal Revenue Service Washington, D.C.
When did you decide to become a tax lawyer? Did any of your UVA Law professors influence your decision to go into tax law? If so, who was it and how did they encourage or inspire you?
Hard as I tried, I just could not stay away from tax. Although my pre-law school resume might have fooled some (e.g., CPA and [Volunteer Income Tax Association] volunteer), I did not intend to become a tax lawyer. In fact, I arrived at UVA Law as a 1L announcing my retirement from tax (jokingly after an “illustrious” two-year career as a tax accountant) and very ready to try something new. I took Federal Income Tax that spring solely because my section’s Peer Advisors recommended it as a must-take before graduation, and I figured I might as well take it before I forgot everything I knew about tax. UVA Law and its amazing tax faculty, however, had other plans for me. Just a few weeks into my Federal Income Tax class I was out of retirement discussing the intricacies and logic, or lack thereof, of our tax system with Professor Ruth Mason; by the end of the semester, I was headed to spend my summer working at Caplin & Drysdale as a tax summer associate.
UVA Law’s tax course offerings, which much to my surprise — and gratefully so — were plentiful, solidified my decision to become a tax lawyer and, better yet, prepared me to become one. For example, classes like Professor George Yin’s tax policy seminar taught me to think critically about the why behind tax, Professor Andrew Hayashi’s international tax course taught me how to parse and apply the code, and Professor Mason’s EU tax and international moot court competition classes taught me how to write and advocate in the tax world. Most importantly, however, my time in the tax classroom revealed how passionate all of my professors are about their field and that I would never be bored as a tax lawyer. And here I am, a tax lawyer, much thanks to them.
Did any of your classmates at UVA Law join you in tax practice and have you remained in touch with them?
In addition to providing an invaluable foundation for my future practice (not to mention fostering my inner tax nerd!), UVA Law's vast offering of tax courses provided a unique opportunity to learn and work alongside familiar faces each semester, a mini tax bar of sorts, and make lifelong friendships along the way. While not all of us practice tax now, many of us do and I always look forward to seeing those familiar faces at Virginia Tax Study Group meetings and other conferences or reviving a group text thread when a big case is decided (or even breaking it down on the dance floor at our mutual friends' wedding).
What has been your experience with the Virginia Tax Study Group?
I look forward to attending VTSG meetings every year — and I swear, not just because it is a great excuse to return to Charlottesville! VTSG seems to attract the best and the brightest tax professionals from academia, the government, and private practice year after year, which makes for fascinating panels and discussion. I always leave in awe of both how much I’ve learned and how much more I have to learn. On top of that, in my experience, the VTSG attendees have always been incredibly warm and welcoming to newcomers. I always enjoy catching up with those I’ve met in years past, as well as meeting new people.
Select Publications
“Book Review: Make Space on Your Bookshelf for Monsenego’s Introduction to Transfer Pricing,” 111 Tax Notes Int’l 1261 (2023) (with H. David Rosenbloom).
I enrolled at the Law School without any of the markers you might expect for a future tax lawyer: I had no significant exposure to finance, economics or accounting in my undergraduate education or my early work experience. It was in the spring of my 1L year that I took Federal Income Tax with Professor Paul Stephan. I found it interesting enough to sign up for International Tax the following fall as I was interviewing for 2L summer jobs. Interviewing with tax lawyers through that process and then working as a summer associate in the Tax Department at Cravath helped convince me that I wanted to work as a transactional tax lawyer.
Did any of your UVA Law professors influence your decision to go into tax law? If so, who was it and how did they encourage or inspire you?
Yes, certainly. Professors Mitchell Kane (now at NYU) and Thomas White encouraged me to pursue a tax practice, and I spoke to them at some length about what to expect in the early part of my career. Both were very supportive and helped guide me as I started my first years in practice.
Did any of your classmates at UVA Law join you in tax practice and have you remained in touch with them?
Gavin White ’04 was a year ahead of me in law school and is now a tax partner at Skadden. He and I were in several tax classes together and remain in touch from time to time. Andrew Carlon ’07 was two years behind me and has been in the Cravath Tax Department with me for over a decade. He is one of our senior attorneys and an extremely valuable member of our team.
What has been your experience with the Virginia Tax Study Group?
I try hard to attend these meetings every year. They are always worthwhile and draw a useful mix of practitioners, professors and government lawyers.
The Virginia Tax Study Group has been meeting at the University of Virginia School of Law for more than 30 years. This year, some of the nation’s leading experts in tax law will convene to discuss the global minimum tax proposal and a Supreme Court case that could upend the U.S. tax code.
Professor Richard Pildes of the New York University School of Law discusses his article “Political Fragmentation in Democracies Today.” Professor Wolfgang Schön of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance provides commentary. UVA Law professor Ruth Mason, Oxford University professor Tsilly Dagan and other legal scholars also discuss the work. This event was held as part of the “Tax Meets Non-Tax” Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs workshop series that builds bridges from tax to other kinds of scholarship.
A team of students from the University of Virginia School of Law won awards in this year’s International and European Tax Moot Court competition, among other achievements and recognition for members of the Law School community.
The Virginia Tax Study Group has been meeting at the University of Virginia School of Law for more than 30 years. This year, some of the nation’s leading experts in tax law will convene to discuss the global minimum tax proposal and a Supreme Court case that could upend the U.S. tax code.
Dean Risa Goluboff of the University of Virginia School of Law was elected to the Association of American Law Schools Executive Committee and named a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation trustee. The news is among other achievements and recognition for members of the Law School community.
Professor Ruth Mason, a tax expert at the University of Virginia School of Law, has been awarded a multiyear fellowship by Germany's prestigious Max Planck Society to research problems at the intersection of taxation and social policy.
“Taxing People: The Next 100 Years,” co-sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law, brought together leading scholars in tax law and policy for an interdisciplinary conference at Worcester College.
A new paper by University of Virginia School of Law professors Ashley S. Deeks and Andrew Hayashi explains how U.S. tax sanctions could hinder Russia’s ability to keep fighting in Ukraine.
Members of the University of Virginia School of Law community have recently been singled out for excellence. Among the accolades, UVA Law students won second place at the International and European Tax Moot Court competition.
Members of the University of Virginia School of Law community have recently been singled out for excellence. Among the accolades, Dean Risa Goluboff has been named to the Equal Justice Works board of directors.
The 16th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies will be held at the University of Virginia School of Law from Nov. 3-5. Anne-Marie Slaughter, the CEO of New America and a former dean at Princeton, will deliver the keynote address.
The University of Virginia School of Law has named new faculty directors to lead some of the 23 centers and programs that shape the school’s intellectual life.
Marilyn Hajj, a 2025 S.J.D. candidate from Lebanon at the University of Virginia School of Law, has been awarded the American Association of University Women International Doctoral Fellowship for 2022-23.
Tristan Deering, a second-year student at the University of Virginia School of Law, discusses how his international business experience drew him to corporate and tax law.
Certain property tax schemes designed to give rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods a tax break might be disproportionately benefiting white homebuyers, explains Professor Andrew Hayashi on the latest episode of “Common Law,” a podcast of the University of Virginia School of Law.
The University of Virginia School of Law has the second-highest percentage of recent alumni working at the 10 highest-grossing U.S. law firms, among other recent accolades for the Law School community.
Reforms to retirement plans over the past 25 years have disproportionately benefited the wealthy while costing taxpayers billions, according to new research by University of Virginia School of Law professor Michael Doran.
Professors Michael Doran, Richard Schragger and Pierre-Hugues Verdier were elected members of the American Law Institute, bringing the number of affiliated University of Virginia School of Law faculty to 31.
A University of Virginia School of Law professor’s mission to explain that Congress does have the power to review the president’s tax returns concluded Tuesday.
Professor Ruth Mason of the University of Virginia School of Law discusses the implications of a new international deal designed to stop big tech companies from dodging taxes.
Professor Ruth Mason, a tax expert at the University of Virginia School of Law, has been awarded a multiyear fellowship by Germany's prestigious Max Planck Society to research problems at the intersection of taxation and social policy.
Professor Guido Alfani of Bocconi University discusses economic inequality in preindustrial times, centralized in Europe and beyond. Alfani was recently published in the Journal of Economic Literature. Professor Ted Seto of Loyola Law School provides commentary, and UVA Law professor Ruth Mason and Oxford University professor Tsilly Dagan also discuss the work. This event was held as part of the “Tax Meets Non-Tax” Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs workshop series that builds bridges from tax to other kinds of scholarship.
In an environment of increasing academic specialization, Oxford-Virginia Legal Dialogs seeks to build bridges across academic disciplines by introducing a new kind of workshop. For each session, a tax scholar will select a non-tax, but law-related, work that is prominent in its own field and explain how the work is relevant to the study of taxation. The author of the work will then respond before we open the session to questions and discussion by workshop attendees. More
Annual Events
Faculty, students and alumni learn about cutting-edge issues in tax from a variety of annual events.
Virginia Tax Invitational (Fall)
Every fall, the center invites a small group of tax academics to Charlottesville for an intensive two-day workshop to discuss works-in-progress. Students interested in becoming tax academics should plan to read the papers and attend this event. To make arrangements to attend, please contact the faculty director of the Virginia Center for Tax Law.
Virginia Tax Study Group (Spring)
Every spring, some of the nation's leading experts in tax law convene at the Law School to discuss emerging tax issues. The Virginia Tax Study Group includes scholars, practicing attorneys and government officials who work in tax policy. The event consists of panel presentations and a keynote address at lunch. Students who register are welcome to attend. More
Meeting Information
March 28, 2025 | Keynote Address by Michael Graetz LL.M. '69, Columbia Alumni Professor Emeritus of Tax Law, Columbia Law School
2024 Schedule | Keynote Address by Will Morris LL.M. '89, Global Tax Policy Leader at PwC
2019 Schedule | Keynote Address by Michael Graetz ’69, Wilbur H. Friedman Professor of Tax Law and the Columbia Alumni Professor of Tax Law at Columbia Law School, Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor of Law Emeritus and Professional Lecturer at Yale Law School
2018 Schedule | Keynote Address by William Gale, Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Co-Director, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center
2017 Schedule | Keynote Address by Nina Olsen, National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service
2015 Schedule | Keynote Address by Alan Viard, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
2014 Schedule | Keynote Address by Gene Steuerle, Institute Fellow and Richard B. Fisher Chair, Urban Institute
Ron Harris presents a chapter from his new book “Empire Ltd.: Law and the Rise of Multinational Companies in the First Era of Globalization (1844-1914).” Harris is the Kalman Lubowsky Professor of Law and History and former dean at the Faculty of Law in Tel-Aviv University. UVA Law professor Ruth Mason and Oxford professor Tsilly Dagan will serve as commentators.
Hal Hicks ’85
Len Teti ’05
