IFRS 16 and Covid 19 – International Accounting Standards Board

Date recorded:

At its meeting on April 17, 2020, as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, the IASB tentatively decided to:

  • provide lessees with an optional exemption from assessing whether a covid-19-related rent concession is a lease modification;
  • require lessees that apply the exemption to account for covid-19-related rent concessions as if such concessions were not lease modifications;
  • require lessees that apply the exemption to disclose that fact;
  • require lessees to apply the exemption retrospectively, recognising the cumulative effect of initially applying the amendment as an adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings (or other component of equity, as appropriate) at the beginning of the reporting period in which a lessee first applies the amendment;
  • make the exemption immediately effective on issue of the final amendment; and
  • allow 14 days for comment on an exposure draft of the proposed amendment to IFRS 16, subject to approval from the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation.

All 14 Board members agreed with these decisions. The Board plans to publish the exposure draft by April 27, 2020.

Review the IASB Update and podcast on the Board's Web site.

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