Dear colleagues, At the General Meeting (GM) on 18 November 2015, the RIPE NCC membership will vote on whether or not to redistribute the expected financial surplus for 2015 via a rebate to members. This follows the membership’s approval of an updated Standard Service Agreement (SSA) in November 2014 that allows members to decide annually on the allocation of the RIPE NCC surplus or deficit. The November 2015 GM is the first time the members will be asked to vote on this redistribution, so I would like to outline how this process will work. A renewed tax ruling with the Dutch tax authorities meant that the RIPE NCC would have to pay corporate income tax of about 25% on any surplus it made annually from 2015 onwards. However, the authorities agreed that the surplus could be reduced to zero by paying an amount equal to the surplus to members as a rebate if they choose to do so. In 2015, the RIPE NCC surplus is expected to be approximately EUR 4.2 million, The exact figure will not be known until after the annual external audit has taken place. If the General Meeting rejects the resolution to redistribute the surplus to members, approximately EUR 1 million (assuming a EUR 4.2 million surplus) would be paid in corporate income tax and the rest of the surplus would be added to the RIPE NCC Clearing House (reserves). If members approve the resolution to redistribute the surplus, the following process would take place: - The final exact amount to be rebated will be determined at the end of December 2015 to approximate the surplus as closely as possible - All those who are members by 31 December 2015 will be entitled to the rebate according to the formula (set out below) - The amount to be rebated to each member will be based on the annual fee paid for all LIR accounts they hold – this includes annual service fees and Provider Independent (PI) resource assignment fees but does not include sign-up fees - Members that joined the RIPE NCC after the first quarter of 2015 will receive a pro rata rebate that corresponds to the service fee paid - The rebate will be included on the 2016 invoices – all members will therefore receive an invoice that shows the service fee for 2016 (EUR 1,400), any PI assignment fees they might have and the rebate marked as a discount on the invoice - Members that close before 31 December 2015 will not receive a rebate - Members that merge before 31 December 2015 will receive only one rebate - The formula that will be used to decide each member’s individual rebate is: Annual fee paid by member / Total annual fee paid by all members X Total rebate amount = Individual member rebate In an example where the surplus is EUR 4.2 million and where a member holds one LIR account and has no PI assignments, the formula would apply as follows: 1,600 / 20,500,000 X 4,200,000 = EUR 327.80 According to the formula, each EUR 50 PI assignment paid as part of the annual fee would result in a rebate of approximately EUR 10.24. For a member with 100 PI assignments, the formula would apply as follows: 1,600 + 5,000 / 20,500,000 X 4,200,000 = EUR 1,352.20 The membership will decide on the surplus redistribution at the upcoming GM. I ask all members to register to vote - electronic voting is provided so that all members can participate even if they will not attend the GM in person. You can register to vote via the GM Preferences section in the LIR Portal: https://www.ripe.net/s/gm-registration-nov-2015 All information on the GM is available at: https://www.ripe.net/participate/meetings/gm/meetings/november-2015 Kind regards, Axel Pawlik Managing Director RIPE NCC RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-626 RIPE NCC Clearing House Procedure: https://www.ripe.net/publications/docs/ripe-625