Leases

In April 2001 the International Accounting Standards Board (Board) adopted IAS 17 Leases, which had originally been issued by the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) in December 1997. IAS 17 Leases replaced IAS 17 Accounting for Leases that was issued in September 1982.

In April 2001 the Board adopted SIC-15 Operating Leases—Incentives, which had originally been issued by the Standing Interpretations Committee of the IASC in December 1998.

In December 2001 the Board issued SIC-27 Evaluating the Substance of Transactions Involving the Legal Form of a Lease. SIC-27 had originally been developed by the Standing Interpretations Committee of the IASC to provide guidance on determining, amongst other things, whether an arrangement that involves the legal form of a lease meets the definition of a lease under IAS 17.

In December 2003 the Board issued a revised IAS 17 as part of its initial agenda of technical projects.

In December 2004 the Board issued IFRIC 4 Determining whether an Arrangement contains a Lease. The Interpretation was developed by the Interpretations Committee to provide guidance on determining whether transactions that do not take the legal form of a lease but convey the right to use an asset in return for a payment or series of payments are, or contain, leases that should be accounted for in accordance with IAS 17.

In January 2016 the Board issued IFRS 16 Leases. IFRS 16 replaces IAS 17, IFRIC 4, SIC-15 and SIC-27. IFRS 16 sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases.

In May 2020 the Board issued Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions, which amended IFRS 16. The amendment permits lessees, as a practical expedient, not to assess whether rent concessions that occur as a direct consequence of the covid-19 pandemic and meet specified conditions are lease modifications. Instead, the lessee accounts for those rent concessions as if they were not lease modifications.

In August 2020 the Board issued Interest Rate Benchmark Reform―Phase 2 which amended requirements in IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7, IFRS 4 and IFRS 16 relating to:

• changes in the basis for determining contractual cash flows of financial assets, financial liabilities and lease liabilities;

• hedge accounting; and

• disclosures.

The Phase 2 amendments apply only to changes required by the interest rate benchmark reform to financial instruments and hedging relationships.

In March 2021 the Board issued Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021, which extended by one year the application period of the practical expedient in paragraph 46A to help lessees accounting for covid-19-related rent concessions.

In September 2022, the Board issued Lease Liability in a Sale and Leaseback, which added subsequent measurement requirements for sale and leaseback transactions.

Other Standards have made minor consequential amendments to IFRS 16, including Amendments to References to the Conceptual Framework in IFRS Standards (issued March 2018).

CONTENTS

from paragraph

INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARD 16

LEASES

OBJECTIVE 1

SCOPE 3

RECOGNITION EXEMPTIONS 5

IDENTIFYING A LEASE 9

Separating components of a contract 12

LEASE TERM 18

LESSEE 22

Recognition 22

Measurement 22

Presentation 47

Disclosure 51

LESSOR 61

Classification of leases 61

Finance leases 67

Operating leases 81

Disclosure 89

SALE AND LEASEBACK TRANSACTIONS 98

Assessing whether the transfer of the asset is a sale 99

TEMPORARY EXCEPTION ARISING FROM INTEREST RATE BENCHMARK REFORM 104

APPENDICES

A Defined terms

B Application guidance

C Effective date and transition

D Amendments to other Standards

APPROVAL BY THE BOARD OF IFRS 16 LEASES ISSUED IN JANUARY 2016

APPROVAL BY THE BOARD OF:

Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions issued in May 2020

Interest Rate Benchmark Reform— Phase 2 issued in August 2020

Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions beyond 30 June 2021 issued March 2021

Lease Liability in a Sale and Leaseback issued September 2022

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING GUIDANCE LISTED BELOW, SEE PART B OF THIS EDITION

• ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
• APPENDIX TO THE ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
• Amendments to guidance on other Standards

FOR THE BASIS FOR CONCLUSIONS, SEE PART C OF THIS EDITION

• BASIS FOR CONCLUSIONS
• DISSENTING OPINION
• APPENDIX TO THE BASIS FOR CONCLUSIONS
• Amendments to the Basis for Conclusions on other Standards

International Financial Reporting Standard 16 Leases (IFRS 16) is set out in paragraphs 1–106 and Appendices A–D. All the paragraphs have equal authority. Paragraphs in bold type state the main principles. Terms defined in Appendix A are in italics the first time that they appear in the Standard. Definitions of other terms are given in the Glossary for International Financial Reporting Standards. The Standard should be read in the context of its objective and the Basis for Conclusions, the Preface to IFRS Standards and the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting. IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors provides a basis for selecting and applying accounting policies in the absence of explicit guidance.