Beginning Sept. 30, 2025, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stopped issuing paper tax refund checks and moved entirely to electronic refund payments.
This major transition is part of a broader federal initiative under Executive Order 14247, titled, “Modernizing Payments to and from America’s Bank Account,” which aims to make all federal disbursements fully electronic.
Why This Change is Happeni…
Member Publications
The legislative proposal “Digital General Meeting of Private Legal Entities Act” was adopted by the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) on 16 December 2025 (the “Legislative Proposal”).
Current Dutch law
General meeting
The basic principle under current Dutch law is that the general meeting must take place physically. It is not possible to hold a fully digital general meeting.
The law does c…
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) into law as Public Law 119-21, introducing a range of individual and business tax changes. One such change was the establishment of new “Trump Accounts” under Internal Revenue Code Section 530A. Trump Accounts are a new type of individual retirement account for the benefit of children within what is referred to as the…
The European Union’s fight against money laundering and terrorist financing has entered a new phase. What was once characterised by fragmented national supervision and uneven enforcement is steadily giving way to a more centralised, data-driven and legally disciplined framework. Two recent developments illustrate this shift with particular clarity: the finalisation of the Regulatory Technical Stan…
The 5th Tenancy Law Inflation Relief Act came into force on 1 January 2026. With the new package, the legislator is intervening deeply in the market.
An overview of the most important changes for residential leases that are subject in whole or in part to the Tenancy Law Act (MRG):
INFLATION LIMIT:
If inflation exceeds the 3% mark within two years, only half of the excess may be passed on to tena…
H-1B Cap Season is quickly approaching. Registration for this year’s lottery will open in March 2026. If you are interested in sponsoring your employee(s) in this year’s lottery, please contact SKO to have their case reviewed for eligibility.
WHAT IS H-1B STATUS?
H-1B is a widely used professional work visa available to noncitizens for employment in the U.S. H-1B requires employer sponsorship.…
The Health Information Privacy Reform Act (HIPRA) proposed by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on November 4th, 2025, is best read as a preview of the future of health-data regulation, even if it does not become law. If passed, HIPRA would extend “medical-grade” privacy, security, and breach obligations to a wide swath of consumer-focused digital health companies, such as smartwatches, wearables, healt…
The White House recently issued an Executive Order designating illicit fentanyl and its chemical precursors as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), marking a strategic shift in the United States’ approach to the fentanyl crisis. This designation places the issue on the same conceptual level as the proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons, enabling the use of intelligence, financial, and non-p…
The Dutch Secretary of State for Finance has published an updated version of the Fund Decree initially issued in November 2024, providing further clarity on the Dutch tax classification rules applicable to Dutch and equivalent foreign limited partnerships that may qualify as a contractual fund for joint account (“fonds voor gemene rekening,” or “FGR”) (the “Fund Decree”).
Background
Effective 1 J…
Australia’s federal privacy regulator, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), will be undertaking its first ever compliance sweep. This sweep will assess whether businesses’ privacy policies are sufficiently transparent about how they handle personal information collected from individuals in face-to-face settings.
Why is the OAIC doing this?
As noted by the Privacy Com…