The International Accounting Standards Board (Board) has today—in a supplementary Board meeting to discuss covid-19 related matters—decided to propose an amendment to the leases Standard, IFRS 16, to help companies account for covid-19-related rent concessions, such as rent holidays.
The proposed amendment will complement the educational materials published on 10 April 2020 to support companies applying the Standard.
A project has been added to the Board’s work plan on the proposed amendment. Those with an interest can follow developments in the project by registering for alerts. The Board expects to publish the proposed amendment in an exposure draft next week with a 14-day comment period.
The IFRS Foundation Trustees, responsible for governance and oversight of the Board, approved the 14-day comment period in a phone meeting today. The Due Process Handbook sets out that 75% of the Trustees must approve comment periods shorter than 30 days.
Deferral of effective date
The Board has also decided to propose extending by one year the effective date of an amendment to IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, issued in January 2020: Classification of Liabilities as Current or Non-current (paid subscription required).
A project on this proposed amendment has been added to the Board’s work plan. Those with an interest can follow developments in the project by registering for alerts. The Board expects to publish the proposed amendment in an exposure draft with a 30-day comment period in early May.
Extending consultation periods and delaying consultations
The Board also discussed other covid-19-related matters and decided to extend by three months the comment period of three ongoing consultations to give stakeholders more time to respond: Exposure Draft General Presentation and Disclosures, Request for Information Comprehensive Review of the IFRS for SMEs Standard and Discussion Paper Business Combinations—Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment.
Finally, several consultations planned for 2020 will be delayed until later in the year or to 2021.
A full summary of the Board’s supplementary meeting is available in the Supplementary IASB Update April 2020—impact of covid-19.
