Deloitte comment letter on tentative agenda decision on attributing benefit to periods of service (IAS 19)
We have commented on the IFRS Interpretations Committee's publication in the December 2020 IFRIC Update of the tentative decision not to take onto the Committee’s agenda the request for clarification about the periods of service to which an entity attributes benefit for a particular defined benefit plan.
We agree with the IFRS Interpretations Committee’s decision not to add this item onto its agenda for the reasons set out in the tentative agenda decision. We agree that for the specific defined benefit plan illustrated in the agenda decision Example 2 illustrating IAS 19:73 provides relevant guidance for determining the periods of service to which the benefits should be attributed.
However, we believe that the principles used in Example 2 to determine the periods of service over which the benefits must be allocated are not entirely clear.