Sale and leaseback transactions before the date of initial application (paragraphs C16-C18) (paras. BC292-BC294)
BC292 In response to feedback from stakeholders, the IASB decided to provide transition requirements for sale and leaseback transactions that are consistent with the general transition requirements for all leases. Consequently, a seller-lessee should not perform any retrospective accounting specific to the sale element of a sale and leaseback transaction on transition to IFRS 16. A seller-lessee is required to account for the leaseback on transition to IFRS 16 in the same way as it accounts for any other lease that is in existence at the date of initial application.
BC293 The IASB considered requiring a lessee to reassess historic sale and leaseback transactions to determine whether the transfer would have been accounted for as a sale applying IFRS 15. However, the IASB concluded that the costs of performing the reassessment would not be justified.
BC294 The IASB also decided that a seller-lessee should apply the approach to gain or loss recognition on sale and leaseback transactions in IFRS 16 (described in paragraph BC266) only to sale and leaseback transactions entered into after the date of initial application of IFRS 16. The IASB concluded that the costs of applying a retrospective approach would outweigh the benefits in terms of reported information.