Employment Rights Act 2025 — Further Provisions Active
Form 1099-K & Payment App Income Check
Why this matters.
Any US business that charges customers on a recurring basis online, from SaaS and memberships to subscription boxes and freelance retainers paid by card, is covered by the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA), 15 U.S.C. §§8401–8405. ROSCA requires you to clearly disclose all material terms before taking billing information, obtain the customer’s express informed consent before charging them, and provide a simple way to stop recurring charges. Although the FTC’s 2024 “click-to-cancel” amendments to its Negative Option Rule were vacated by the Eighth Circuit in July 2025, the FTC still enforces ROSCA and Section 5 of the FTC Act against hidden terms and hard-to-cancel subscriptions, and has brought major cases against large subscription sellers.
States add stricter rules on top. California’s Automatic Renewal Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§17600–17606), strengthened from 1 July 2025, requires clear and conspicuous terms, affirmative consent to the renewal, an acknowledgment the customer can keep, online cancellation if the customer signed up online, an annual reminder for subscriptions, and notice before price changes. New York (Gen. Bus. Law §527-a) and many other states have similar laws, and charges made in breach can be treated as unconditional gifts to the customer. ROSCA violations are treated as violations of an FTC trade regulation rule, exposing businesses to civil penalties per violation, refunds to customers and state attorney general actions.
