Halloween may be over, but the spellcasting continues.
The pumpkins are gone, the broomsticks put away, yet everywhere I turn people are still peering into their crystal balls — not to commune with spirits, but to predict what the Chancellor might conjure up in his next Budget.
Will income tax thresholds vanish in a puff of smoke? Will VAT be magically adjusted to save us all a few galleons? Nobody knows — and sadly, my accounting qualifications don’t come with a Ministry of Finance crystal ball.
What I can predict with total confidence, however, is that the tax deadline will appear on 31st January, right on cue, like a ghost that refuses to be exorcised.
It’s as inevitable as a curtain call — and those who haven’t prepared their accounts will find themselves haunted by the Tax Return of Christmas Past.
As some of you know, before I trained as an accountant, I trained as a Reed player and after qualifying as an accountant, trained as an opera singer, but then decided for some reason that tax was more fun! Hah! Anyway, opera, like tax season, is full of drama, witches, and cautionary tales.
One of my favourite characters is Rusalka, the water nymph who seeks out the witch Ježibaba to turn her human and win the prince’s love.
It all goes about as well as a DIY tax return at midnight — which is to say, not well at all. (Fun fact: Rusalka inspired The Little Mermaid, though Disney left out the bit with the witch’s curse.)
Opera is full of witches: from Macbeth’s hags stirring up trouble, to the evil enchantress in Hansel and Gretel. They all promise power and transformation — but it always comes with a price.
It’s the same with finances, really. The magic you’re wishing for — more time, fewer surprises, lower stress — doesn’t come from potions or predictions. It comes from preparation.
So while I can’t tell you what the Chancellor will announce next, I can tell you this:
If you haven’t started getting your accounts in order yet, the haunting will begin soon. And trust me — the Taxman is scarier than any witch I’ve ever met.If you’d rather sleep soundly through the witching hour, get your books in order now.
Because when it comes to tax season, organisation — not sorcery — is the real magic spell.
Louise the Singing Accountant
