RIPE NCC Clearing House Procedure |
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RIPE NCC
Document ID: ripe-322
Date: 7 May 2004
Obsoletes: ripe-202
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
This document provides additional information on the RIPE NCC Clearing House
and should be read in conjunction with the RIPE NCC Standard Terms and
Conditions. The RIPE NCC Standard Terms and Conditions and the RIPE NCC Standard
Service
Agreement will be authoritative over this document. The RIPE NCC is a not-for-profit organisation. Nevertheless, a positive or
negative result can be achieved in a particular year. In principle, this would
be subject to Corporate Income tax. However, the RIPE NCC has set up special
arrangements with the Dutch tax authorities to move any surplus or deficit
to accumulate in a “special” reserve. This “special” reserve,
known as the Clearing House, gives the RIPE NCC a stable financial position
to operate soundly and continuously.
The Dutch tax authorities have set a maximum to this reserve. To avoid any
taxation or payout from the Clearing House, the RIPE NCC Board and the RIPE
NCC Management aim to stay within this set boundary.
The Clearing House procedure was approved by the Dutch tax authorities in
1998 and has been amended in 2003. The Clearing House procedure started with
the 1998 financial year.
The RIPE NCC Executive Board reserve the right to make changes, in accordance
with Dutch tax law, to this procedure as necessary.
2. Clearing House – General Information
The Clearing House procedure has been developed to comply with the Dutch
tax ruling describing how to redistribute an excess amount to the RIPE NCC
Contributors.
A RIPE NCC Contributor is defined as a natural person or legal entity that
receives services from the RIPE NCC and has been invoiced a service fee
for the year at issue. The Clearing House may equal a maximum of three times
the total amount of RIPE NCC service fees in the relevant financial year
as stated in the audited financial report. This income excludes the sign-up
fee and any other Service fees or payments made to the RIPE NCC that are
not stipulated by the RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement and the RIPE
NCC
Standard Terms and Conditions. Only Contributors that have fulfilled their financial obligations towards
the RIPE NCC in the relevant financial year can participate in the Clearing
House procedure. If during the year the RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement
has been terminated by either party no participation in the Clearing House
procedure will take place.
3. Clearing House Procedure
The surplus or deficit that results from the audited financial statements
of the financial year will be transferred to the Clearing House. The accumulated
amounts will be reserved in the Clearing House. In case this total amount
exceeds a total of three times the income from the Contributors Service
fees
of the financial year at issue, the RIPE NCC will redistribute the excess
amount from the Clearing House to the Contributors. 3.1 Redistribution from the Clearing House
The Contributor's share of the excess amount will be equal to the percentage
of its fee contribution to the service fees paid to the RIPE NCC over the
past 3 years, including the relevant financial year in which the Clearing
House exceeded the maximum. A Contributor's percent share of the total paid fees is calculated by dividing
that Contributor's paid fee by the total of all other Contributors' paid fees
for the past 3 years.
This excess amount will not actually be paid out but will be credited to the
Contributor’s account and will be deducted from the Service fee for the
year after the Clearing House procedure has taken place. In case of termination
of the RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement the excess amount payable will not
be redistributed.
3.2 Timeline of Clearing House Procedure
The Clearing House procedure will take place within 90 days of receipt of
the audited financial statements. The settlement for the excess amount will
be
done with the invoices for the year following the year in which the Clearing
House procedure has taken place. 4 Changes in Contributor Status
4.1 Closing and/or Default of a Contributor
If during the year the RIPE NCC Standard Service Agreement has been terminated
by either party, any excess amounts payable to the Contributor will remain
in the Clearing House. 4.2 Merging of Two Contributors
In case of a merger between two Contributors, the fee will be the total
amount paid by the two registries for the year at issue. In case of Clearing
House
redistribution they will then receive a percentage reflecting the total
amount paid. 4.3 Changes in Billing Size
Changes in billing size during the year at issue have no impact on
the Clearing House redistribution of the excess amount as the fee paid
by the Contributor
determines the amount that will be settled.
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