21 January 2014

Deloitte commented on the recent IFRS Interpretations Committee tentative agenda decisions

IAS 8 'Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors' — Distinction between a change in an accounting policy and a change in an accounting estimate

Deloitte agrees with the IFRS Interpretations Committee’s decision not to add a request for clarification on the distinction between a change in an accounting policy and a change in an accounting estimate onto its agenda for the reasons set out in the tentative agenda decision. However, whilst Deloitte would expect there to be some reason for a change in accounting estimate, Deloitte believes that the unsupported statement in the tentative agenda decision that “a change in a method of estimation should only be made if that change produces reliable and more relevant information” should be removed from the agenda decision. Deloitte does not believe it is appropriate to extrapolate this from the requirement in paragraph 14 of IAS 8 which applies only to changes in accounting policies.

Comment letter - IAS 8

IAS 17 'Leases — Meaning of ‘incremental costs’'

Deloitte agrees with the IFRS Interpretations Committee’s decision not to add a request for clarification on whether the salary costs of permanent staff involved in negotiating and arranging new leases (and loans) qualify as ‘incremental costs’ onto its agenda for the reasons set out in the tentative agenda decision, but note that the statement that  “only costs that would not have been incurred if the entity had not negotiated and arranged a lease” is drawn from the definition of transaction costs included in IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement (and, by cross-reference, in IFRS 9Financial Instruments). Deloitte believes the tentative agenda decision could be made clearer by referring to this definition and stating that the term ‘incremental costs’ is expected to be applied consistently in the context of finance lease receivables and other financial assets.

Comment letter - IAS 17

IAS 39 'Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement' — Accounting for term-structured repo transaction

Deloitte agrees with the IFRS Interpretations Committee’s decision not to add a request for clarification of the accounting for a series of transactions (a bond purchase, interest rate swap and repurchase agreement) onto its agenda for the reasons set out in the tentative agenda decision.

Comment letter - IAS 39

IFRS 2 'Share-based Payment' — Price difference between the institutional offer price and the retail offer price for shares in an initial public offering

Deloitte agrees with the IFRS Interpretations Committee’s decision not to add a request for clarification of the accounting for a price difference between the institutional offer price and the retail offer price for shares issued in an initial public offering onto its agenda for the reasons set out in the tentative agenda decision.

Comment letter

Press release

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