ICANN Expects a $40 Million Refund. Applicants Had to Opt In.

Why it matters

About 1,600 applications produced roughly $110 million in implementation-cost recovery against a $70 million target. ICANN expects the excess back as a volume refund, but the Applicant Guidebook put the choice in each application: elect the refund, or forfeit a later request.

Daniel Kade28 October 2026 at 19:24 UTCReading Time 2 minLast update: 28 October 2026

The refund route, fund replenishments and reserve transfer follow separate paths.

Summary

ICANN designed the 2026 Round’s implementation-cost recovery around 1,000 applications, then received about 1,600 and collected about $110 million against roughly $70 million in implementation costs.
The difference is about $40 million, but applicants had to elect a volume refund in their submission; declining it forfeits a later request.

ICANN’s volume refund has a small checkbox with a large job. The 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook asked each applicant to say at submission whether it wanted an application volume refund if one became available. The form also says a decision against the refund forfeits the right to request it later.

The checkbox turns a future calculation into an eligibility gate. The Guidebook opens a volume refund only after the round clears more than 1,000 applications and implementation costs are recovered. Only paid applications qualify; a qualified Applicant Support Program applicant gets a refund in proportion to what it paid. The final calculation uses the actual application count and final cost. A “no” at submission closes the route to a later request.

The Board Finance Committee minutes say the excess after implementation-cost recovery is expected to return through this mechanism. They also say application revenue is recognized only when each evaluation is complete. Cash collected and revenue recognized therefore run on separate clocks.

ICANN will use the roughly US$70 million needed for implementation to replenish the funds that financed it: about US$35 million to the Project Fund and US$35 million to the 2012 Round application-fee funds. The Board Finance Committee discussed a separate US$20 million transfer of FY26 operating surplus to the Project Fund; the Board approved it on 22 October. That transfer changes which fund holds the reserve. The Board still has to approve a named project before the Project Fund pays.

ICANN has not published the final implementation cost, the count of eligible paid applications, or the election count; those three figures determine the refund calculation. The Board Finance Committee also called for clearer communication about intended use of funds.

Sources: ICANN Board Finance Committee minutes, 1 October 2026; 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook, section 3.3.3.2; ICANN Board resolution, 22 October 2026; ICANN FY27 Budget.