Summary
Elimination of tax refunds by cheque in the US
Starting in September 2025, the US federal government will phase out paper cheques from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a form of payment for tax refunds, ending a long tradition in the way US citizens exchange money with the IRS.
Under a general mandate issued by the US Treasury, all federal payments, including tax refunds, will have to be made electronically and paper refund cheques will no longer be issued. At the same time, the IRS will no longer accept paper payments, except in limited cases.
Taxpayers who currently receive refunds by traditional cheque should start switching to electronic payment methods, choosing wire transfer or another digital option on their next US tax return. It is also important to verify that the IRS has the correct bank details.
Instant Transfers
As of 9 October 2025, EU Regulation 886/2024 will come into force, which will introduce important innovations regarding instant credit transfers that can be sent at no extra cost compared to ordinary ones.
The service will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the sum will be credited within the timeframe indicated in the rules and will not be revocable: it is advisable to always check IBAN, amount and beneficiary carefully.
For greater protection, many banks provide:
- Beneficiary Verification (VoP) service for both instant and regular credit transfers: a real-time check on IBAN and beneficiary data before the payment is authorised (the bank will confirm the correspondence of the beneficiary details – i.e. description of the account holder – and the IBAN code with the recipient bank, and alert the sender in case of discrepancies. In some cases the names may not correspond (for example, when shortened details are provided), and the alert can be skipped;
- Setting a default limit per individual instant credit transfer transaction.
SPID (Italian digital identity service) convention renewal
The Italian government has renewed for five years the convention for the provision of the SPID (i.e. “Sistema Pubblico di Identità Digitale” – Public Digital Identity System) service with the operators, in agreement with AgID and the Department for Digital Transformation. This renewal ensures the continuity of an essential service, used by over 41 million citizens to access the digital services of the Public Administration.
The agreement aims at consolidating SPID as a national strategic infrastructure. A key point is the recognition of the need to ensure the economic sustainability of the service for operators, who have received confirmation of government contributions to support investment. However, the agreement also opens up the possibility that the SPID may become chargeable in the future for citizens or for some of its specific functionalities.
POS and RT interconnection
After the introduction of electronic invoicing and electronic transmission of receipts, the next regulatory milestone is set at 1 January 2026, the date from which merchants will be obliged to integrate electronic payment systems (POS) with e-cash tills (RT).
Legislative Decree 127/2015 is updated to explicitly introduce the obligation, in particular:
- The electronic storage and transmission of receipts must be carried out by means that ensure the inalterability and security of the data;
- The POS device must be technically connected to the e-cash till, ensuring the integration of payment and registration processes.
Until 31 December 2025, Payment Service Providers (PSPs) will continue to transmit digital payment data to the Italian Revenue Agency via PagoPA S.p.A.
From 1 January 2026, sending will take place directly via the Data Exchange System (i.e. SdI), with a more streamlined and direct procedure.
With the introduction of the interconnection obligation, there are also specific penalties for violations:
- Administrative penalty of € 100 for each incorrect or omitted transmission, up to a maximum of € 1,000 per quarter.
- Failure to link POS and RT: penalty of between € 1,000 and € 4,000.
Any taxpayer operating cash till services should contact their suppliers to make sure that their systems are updated and ready.