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Proponents of an American nanny state have a plan to improve your health: tax sugar and junk food so you will eat less of it. Subsidies for broccoli and beets are close behind. These plans for bureaucrats and politicians to remake your diet are bad news for four reasons.

First, it is no ones business but yours what you eat. The freedom to eat a slice of apple pie might not sound quite as stirring as freedom of speech, but the ability to choose how to live our lives is the most fundamental freedom. What you eat is no ones business but yours.

Second, even if the government has a role to play in guiding our dietary choices, efforts at restructuring Americans lives via the tax code are fundamentally flawed.

This strategy has given us a tax system of unimaginable complexity: the Internal Revenue Code is almost 10 million words long, and if you stacked IRS regulations into a pile theyd be more than a foot tall. The leading publication for tax professionals takes up nine feet of shelf space. And that doesnt count the tens of thousands of pages of laws and regulations concerning sales, use, property, excise, and other taxes levied by all layers of government.

Taxes need to be simple and easy to administer. As tax laws get fatter, they clog our economic arteries and stifle economic growth. Trying to fine tune Americans diets via a junk food tax will further fatten the tax laws, and the wallets of accountants and tax lawyers. If there are any Americans unaware that sugar and potato chips are fattening despite our $35 billion per year diet industry we dont need a tax to enlighten them, just some public service announcements.

Third, the governments record on dietary control is problematic. The federal government has been involved in the sugar market since the War of 1812. Nanny staters promise that this time theyll get things right but if they havent managed to do so in 200 years, why should we believe them now?

The details of official rules are written in back rooms in Congress and government agencies. When those details are drafted, those best able to influence the results are the lawyers and lobbyists for special interest groups.

For sugar, thats the manufacturers of high fructose corn syrup and the 17 domestic sugar cane producers that reap millions of dollars annually under our current agricultural subsidies and sugar tariffs not you and me.

Finally, the nanny state brigade promises to spend the extra tax money on subsidies for healthy foods and lifestyles. New York Times columnist Matt Bittman enthuses about money for gyms, pools, jogging and bike trails, Meals on Wheels for the elderly, Head Start programs for children, and supermarkets and farmers markets.

If we examine the governments record in spending the billions of dollars from state governments lawsuits against tobacco companies, we can see that this is pure fantasy.

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‘Bad food’ taxes would help clog our economic arteries

A new gambling law in Spain will make it harder for British expats to have a flutter.

Expats will be barred from playing poker with fellow English-speakers internationally, while those who enjoy virtual bingo are likely to be frustrated in Spain.

From June 1, only companies with a Spanish government-issued licence and an .es domain will be allowed to run online gambling sites in the country.

The previous Socialist Party government passed a new gambling law last year that introduced the new rules, but the implementation of this was delayed when they lost power to the Popular Party in November (Stuttgart: A0Z24E - news) .

The new law doesnt, however, cover bingo, meaning those whove taken to substituting the UKs bingo halls for a bit of a flutter online will be out of luck. It has not been banned but the legal assumption is that if it isn't on the list of regulated products, it isn't legal.

While sports betting is permitted under the new law, live in-play betting has been excluded and there has been speculation that the regulation of betting exchanges such as that run by Betfair will be delayed.

Poker players will also lose out, as while the game is covered by the new law, the player pool is restricted to Spain and it will no longer be possible to take part in international games or tournaments.

Willem van Oort, chief executive of GranViaOnline , a marketing agency specialising in the Spanish online gaming market, said many British expats wont be interested in some of the sites on offer post-regulation. These people play on the UK-based sites and because of their residence they wont be able to do this anymore. They might not be interested in Spanish language poker or casino.

There are a number of expat high rollers living on the coast. But they may find it more difficult as the land-based companies who will now be setting up websites in Spain dont really understand these people, said van Oort.

While the law was on hold, a transition period allowed companies that had not applied for licences to keep operating. However, these firms will now have to withdraw from the market if they remain unlicensed Unibet , for example, has said that it plans to stop operating in Spain from this week.

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Spanish 'ban' online bingo

Use a currency broker, and moving money abroad should be cheap and easy.

There are more than five million British expatriates scattered across the four corners of the world.

Many continue to earn their income in the UK or are retired but have pensions paid in sterling into UK accounts. Some may need to move money to meet mortgage payments in other countries.

These expats need to move their money regularly to their place of residence speedily and safely. The big currency brokers offer deals for regular payments and moving money in instalments can be cheap and easy. The advantage of opting for a broker to make regular payments is that it can be cheaper than a bank.

And particularly for the 1.2 million British pensioners living abroad, it is essential to get the most they can when moving their UK pension payments overseas.

Mark Bodega, marketing director of HiFX , explains: In just the last few years, retired British couples all over the world have seen their monthly pension incomes hit by sterlings depreciation.

Worst-hit are pensioners in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, who have seen the domestic value of their state pension in their new countries of residence slashed by market volatility.

He has calculated that based on the typical monthly state pension of 628, a British pensioner in Australia now gets an income of A$968 a month but four years ago he would have received A$1,700.

Mr Bodega said: With further sterling volatility predicted, any British pensioners who are on a tight budget and who cannot afford to see the value of sterling decrease any further should consider one of the many regular payment schemes offered by a currency specialist in the UK such as HiFX.

HiFX says that by using a direct debit scheme, UK pensioners wanting to move their pensions to their new home every month would save around 300 on fees on the costs charged by the high-street banks.

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Expats need to make most of best currency deals

They may be happier than they were in the UK, but research shows that nearly half of workers on expat assignments think their employers should have given them more support when they moved abroad.

A survey of over 400 Britons on foreign assignments found that more than a fifth did not get any help from their employers when they were sent overseas.

Although nearly two-thirds said they enjoyed life abroad more than in the UK, 46 per cent admitted that they would have settled in easier if their company had offered them a helping hand with matters such as language learning and housing costs.

Workers were particularly left in the dark as regards their finances, with only 21 per cent being given financial advice when they relocated. Over half (52 per cent) said they felt they would have benefited from planning their finances more carefully before their move.

The traditional nature of expat postings has changed drastically in recent years, with the typical hardship packages offered to lure workers to far-flung destinations becoming less and less common.

Whereas before the economic crisis, international assignees could expect to enjoy such perks as a moving allowance, free flights home and school fees for their children, only half of those interviewed for the survey said they were given a moving allowance, while 42 per cent were offered flights back home and 41 per cent subsidised housing.

So-called trailing spouses, who follow their partners abroad on work assignments, seemed to get an especially raw deal. Only 13 per cent were offered free flights and over half said they received no support from their partners company at all.

A spokesman for Lloyds TSB International Global Mobility Banking , which commissioned the survey, said: Many companies are currently under pressure to reduce costs and were well aware how expensive overseas assignments can be for employers. But were also aware that most employees really value any help their companies can give to guide them through the logistics of moving overseas.

Shn Norman, a regional director of global mobility services at moving company Crown (Other OTC: CWLDF.PK - news) Relocations, said not helping employees adjust to their new homes could easily backfire on companies.

The ultimate goal for businesses relocating their employees is for them to remain focused on their work-related duties and regain full productivity as quickly as possible. Companies who offer services that help the assignee and their partner to adjust to their new location, like intercultural training, see a really high satisfaction rating," she said.

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Expats struggle with ‘lack of employer support’

(BRUSSELS) - Austria and Luxembourg on Tuesday frustrated European Union plans to claw back unpaid tax on earnings lying in offshore banking havens, prompting an angry rebuke from Brussels.

"Tackling tax evasion is a growth-friendly way of boosting national budgets. How can any member state possibly justify blocking progress in this area," said tax commissioner Algirdas Semeta after talks between finance ministers broke down at EU headquarters.

Citing "extreme frustration" on a bid to open negotiations to reclaim lost taxes from accounts in Switzerland and other territories, Semeta said "the positions Austria and Luxembourg adopted are unfair."

A row centred on whether EU governments would have to automatically share information on deposits.

"I leave it to [the two governments] to explain to citizens across Europe why they can support tax hikes and spending cuts for ordinary people, but won't allow us to step up our fight against tax evaders," Semeta said.

He said the countries, known for secretive banking traditions, had shown an "unjustified resistance to merely opening discussions."

The Danish chairwoman of the finance ministers' meeting must report back to EU leaders ahead of a summit at the end of June before the next steps can be decided.

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Austria, Luxembourg frustrate EU plans to fight tax evasion