Courses | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

Prerequisite: L6256 Federal Income Taxation

Evaluation by Take-Home Examination

Writing Credit by Request

The course will provide an introduction to the taxation of partnerships and limited liability companies. The course will concentrate on the basic principles applicable to formation of partnerships; the determination of partnership income and loss and its allocation among the partners; the treatment of sales and exchanges of partnership interests and distributions of money and property from partnerships. During the course, consideration will be given to the tension between the use of partnerships as a tax planning devise and the need to curb potential abuses, particularly in light of the recent legislative codification of the "economic substance" doctrine . The course wil provide an understanding of the fundamental technical statutory and regulatory rules. In connection with the development of these skills both the lectures and class room discussion will inlcude an examination of tax policy issues and how resolution of those issues help to explain and support the technical rules. Attentions will also be given to current legislative reform efforts dealing with partnerships generally and alternative investment vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity funds, in particular. Class work and assignments will focus on problems (distributed each week and discussed in class) which illustrate the statutory and regulatory provisions.