‘Dismissed’ partner accuses Ernst & Young of corruption [Telegraph]
Accountant Ernst & Young is facing an allegation of corruption at one of its global headquarters as part of a whistleblowing case brought by one of its ex-managing partners.

Cuomo Pushes New Tax Rates for Big Earners [NYT]
While Mr. Cuomo did not provide specifics on his tax proposals, he and legislative leaders were negotiating a deal, the officials briefed on the plan said, that would allow the state’s so-called millionaires’ tax — a surcharge on incomes over $200,000 for individuals — to lapse as scheduled on Dec. 31. But one or more new tax brackets for high-income earners would have those individuals paying less than they did under the surcharge — allowing officials to say that the millionaires’ tax had lapsed — but paying at a higher rate than they would have been under existing tax brackets.

Zynga Eyes $1B in Biggest Web IPO Since Google [Bloomberg, S-1]
Zynga Inc., the biggest maker of games on Facebook, is seeking as much as $1 billion in the biggest initial public offering by a U.S. Internet company since Google Inc. (GOOG)’s debut. The company is offering 100 million shares for $8.50 to $10 apiece, according to a regulatory filing today. The high end of the range would value San Francisco-based Zynga at $7 billion.

Enron’s Tenth Anniversary: Conclusion—Or Is It? [GOA]
The Grumpies are thankful for Enron because it gives them a lot of blogging fodder.

Senate Democrats to Offer New US Tax Cut Plan [Reuters]
U.S. Senate Democrats plan to offer a new proposal on Monday to extend a popular payroll tax cut amid signals that Republican leaders would accept a compromise that covers the cost to the federal Treasury. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat, said that the offer would be a “serious attempt to move this ball forward,” and avoid a Dec. 31 expiration of the popular tax cut.

Grover Norquist on Saturday Night Live [TaxProf]

U.S. Adds 120,000 Jobs; Unemployment Drops to 8.6% [NYT]
November’s jobless rate was the lowest recorded since March 2009. The rate fell partly because more workers got jobs, but also because about 315,000 workers dropped out of the labor force, and the jobless rate counts only people who are actively looking for work.

Boehner Predicts Extension of Payroll-Tax Cut [Bloomberg]
The first attempts to prevent a payroll tax cut from expiring Dec. 31 fell short in the U.S. Senate, even as House Speaker John Boehner expressed confidence that Congress would extend the tax break and unemployment benefits. “There is enough common ground between where the White House and Democrats are and where Republicans are for us to move this legislation and to do so quickly,” Boehner told reporters yesterday.

MF Global accessed client funds for weeks [FT]
MF Global had been dipping into client funds for weeks before its failure – rather than just in its final days as had been previously reported – say US authorities investigating the broker-dealer’s collapse. This comes as the failed company’s bankruptcy trustee revealed that some customer money from MF would never be recovered.

U.S. taxman to go easy on American residents in Canada [GM]
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is poised to waive potentially massive penalties for Americans who agree to come clean and don’t owe any taxes, The Globe and Mail has learned. The new rules will be announced within weeks by the IRS, according to David Jacobson, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, who has been swamped with complaints from anxious Canadians. “What the IRS is saying here is that if … you don’t owe taxes to the U.S., and you file your return and they show you don’t owe taxes, there aren’t going to be any penalties for having filed late,” Mr. Jacobson said in an interview Thursday.

Real Housewife Tax Cheats of Orange County [Tax Update]
I’d be okay if they were all sent to jail.

Proof That Auditor Rotation is a Good Idea [The Summa]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce helped Prof. Albrecht come around on this one.

Tax man pierces ‘Entourage’ star Turtle’s shell [Tax Watchdog]
Anyone have a spare $648k to loan Turtle?

Wells Fargo Sues U.S. Claiming Excess Taxes [Bloomberg]
Some excess payments were caused by “computational and data entry errors” by the Internal Revenue Service, and the government hasn’t acted on its claim for a refund, Wells Fargo said today in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington.

Grant Thornton LLP Acquires Assets of CCR LLP [GT]
Hello, Connecticut.