ASCG comments on IASB ED/2020/2 Covid-19-Related Rent Concessions (Proposed amendment to IFRS 16)

In its comment letter, the ASCG supports the IASB’s request and considers the proposed amendment to be a pragmatic solution to the challenges lessees are currently facing.

The draft amendment aims to grant lessees an optional exemption, limited to payments due in 2020, from the assessment of whether a rent concession relating to the Covid 19/Corona pandemic should be classified as a lease modification. The application of this optional exemption results in accounting for a Covid-19/Corona pandemic-related lease concession as if it were not a modification of the lease. This eliminates the need for the lessee to review all leases or rental agreements, to make a legal assessment of an identified rent concession and, if necessary, to determine new discount rates.