Summary of IAS 40 Investment Property
Many accountants falsely believe that there’s only one standard that deals with long-term tangible assets: IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment.
While it’s true that you need to apply IAS 16 for most of your long-term tangible assets, it’s not the one ruling all. I tried to falsify this myth some time ago here.
Except for IAS 16, we have a few other standards arranging the long term assets. IAS 40 Investment Property is one of them.
In today’s article, you’ll learn:
- What the investment property is,
- How you should account for it initially and subsequently,
- You’ll also learn that the fair value model is NOT the same as the revaluation model, and
- The video is waiting for you in the end.
Here’s a little bonus for you:
Before we dive in IAS 40, my good friend Professor Robin Joyce wrote a wonderful piece that teaches you accounting for IAS 40 in 40 seconds. Hope you’ll enjoy!
Accounting for IAS 40 in 40 seconds
The accounting for IAS 40 Investment Property is identical to that of IAS 16 (Property, Plant and Equipment),
EXCEPT
that IAS 40 revaluations (both positive and negative) go to the income statement (not revaluation reserve)
AND
there is no depreciation if revaluations are carried out every year.
DONE!
Any remaining seconds should be spent on learning the classifications and rules of IAS 40 Investment Property.
Now, let’s take Robin’s advice and spend the remaining seconds for learning the rest.
Objective of IAS 40
IAS 40 Investment Property prescribes the accounting treatment and disclosure with respect to investment property.
But, what is investment property?
The investment property is a land, a building (or a part of it), or both, held for the following specific purposes:
- To earn rentals;
- For capital appreciation; or
- Both. (IAS 40.5)
Here, the strong impact in on purpose. If you hold a building or a land for any of the following purposes, then it cannot be classified as investment property:
- For production or supply of goods or services,
- For administrative purposes, or
- For sale in ordinary course of business.
If you’re using your building or land for the first 2 purposes, then you should apply IAS 16; and the standard IAS 2 Inventories fits when you use them for the sale in ordinary course of business.
Examples of investment property
What specifically can be classified as investment property?
Here is a couple of examples (refer to IAS 40.8):
- Land held as an investment for long-term capital appreciation, or for future undetermined use (i.e. you don’t know yet what you’ll use it for).
However, if you buy a land and you intend to build some production hall for your own purposes sometime in the future, then this land is NOT an investment property. - A building owned by the entity and leased out under one or more operating leases. This includes a building that is still vacant, but you plan to lease it out.
- Any property that you actually construct or develop for future use as investment property.
Be careful here again, because when you construct a building for some third party, this is NOT an investment property, but you should apply IAS 11 Construction contracts, or IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers.
When to Recognize investment property
The rules for recognition of investment property are essentially the same as stated in IAS 16 for property, plant and equipment, i.e. you recognize an investment property as an asset only if 2 conditions are met:
- It is probable that future economic benefits associated with the item will flow to the entity; and
- The cost of the item can be measured reliably.
How to measure investment property initially
Investment property shall be initially measured at cost, including the transaction cost.
The cost of investment property includes:
- Its purchase price and
- Any directly attributable expenditure, such as legal fees or professional fees, property taxes, etc.
You should NOT include:
- Start-up expenses whatsoever.
However, if these start-up expenses are directly attributable to the item of investment property, then you can include them. But do NOT include any general start-up expenses. - Operating losses that you incur before planned occupancy level is achieved, and
- Abnormal waste of material, labor or other resources incurred at construction.
When payment for investment property is deferred, then you need to discount it to its present value in order to set the cash price equivalent.
Let me just mention that actually, you can classify assets held under finance lease as investment property and in this case, it’s initial cost is calculated in line with IAS 17.
Subsequent measurement of investment property
After initial recognition, you have 2 choices for measuring your investment property (IAS 40.30 and following).
Once you make your choice, you should stick to it and measure all of your investment property using the same model (there are actually exceptions from that rule).
Option 1: Fair value model
Under fair value model, an investment property is carried at fair value at the reporting date. (IAS 40.33)
The fair value is determined in line with the standard IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement.
A gain or loss from re-measurement to fair value shall be recognized in profit or loss.
Sometimes, the fair value cannot be reliably measurable after initial recognition. This can happen in absolutely rare circumstances (e.g. active marked ceased existing) and in this case, IAS 40 prescribes (IAS 40.53):
- To measure your investment property at cost, if it’s not yet completed and is under construction; or
- To measure your investment property using cost model, if it’s completed.
Option 2: Cost model
The second choice for subsequent measurement of investment property is a cost model.
Here, IAS 40 does not describe it in details, but refers to the standard IAS 16 Property, Plant and Equipment. It means you need to take the same methodology as in IAS 16.
Switching the models
Can you actually switch from cost model to fair value model or vice versa from fair value model to cost model?
The answer is YES, but only if the change results in the financial statements providing better, more reliable information about company’s financial position, results and other events.
What does it mean in practice?
Switching from cost model to fair value model would probably meet the condition and therefore, you can do it whenever you’re sure that you’ll be able to determine the fair value regularly and the fair value model fits better.
However, the opposite change – switch from fair value model to cost model – is highly unlikely to result in more reliable presentation. Therefore, you should not really do it, and if – rarely and for good reasons.
Transfers from and to investment property
When we speak about transfers related to investment property, we mean the change of classification, for example, you classify a building previously held as property, plant and equipment under IAS 16 to investment property under IAS 40.
The transfers are possible, but only when there’s a change in use or asset’s purpose, for example (refer to IAS 40.57):
- You start renting out the property that you previously used as your headquarters (transfer to investment property from owner-occupied property under IAS 16)
- You stop renting out the building and start using it for yourself
- You held a land for undefined purpose and recently, you decided to construct an apartment house to sell apartments when they are built (transfer from investment property to inventories).
What’s the accounting treatment in this case?
It depends on the type of a transfer and the accounting choice for your investment property.
If you opted to account for your investment property at cost model, then there’s no problem with the transfers, you simply continue with what you did.
However, if you picked up a fair value model, then it’s a bit more complicated:
- When you transfer to investment property, then the deemed cost is a fair value at the date of transfer. Difference between asset’s carrying amount and its fair value is treated in the same way as revaluations under IAS 16.
- When you transfer from investment property, then the deemed cost is also fair value at the date of transfer.
Derecognition of investment property
The derecognition rules (=when you can remove your investment property from your books) in IAS 40 are similar to the rules in IAS 16.
You can derecognize your investment property in two circumstances (IAS 40.66):
- On disposal, or
- When the investment property is permanently withdrawn from use and no future economic benefits are expected.
You need to calculate gain or loss on disposal (IAS 40.69) as a difference between:
- Net disposal proceeds, and
- Asset’s carrying amount.
Gain or loss on disposal is recognized in profit or loss.
Disclosures
IAS 40 Investment property prescribes a lot of disclosures to be presented in the financial statements, including the description of selected model, how the fair value was derived, what the classification criteria for investment property are, movements in investment property during the reporting period (please refer to IAS 40.74 and following for more information).
Please watch the following video with a summary of IAS 40 Investment property:
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202 Comments
Leave a Reply
Silvia,
This is an excellent summary of the standard. Much appreciated.
Thank you, Lawrence! 🙂
Thank you. Siliva M. This is an excellent Summary of Standard. Keep it up.
This is really great and you did well for all
Thank you dear Silvia for your efforts 🙂
Please can other non current asset like motor vehicles, plant and machinery that are put for rent be classified as investment property
No. Only land and buildings.
How to account revaluation surplus and revaluation deficit when there is a change in use of an asset from IAS-40 to IAS-16?
Dear Silvia,
We hava a building where we occupy part and also rent part. How do we account for the building?
Thanks
Dear Kwasi,
in this case, a part of a building that is owner-occupied is treated under IAS 16, and a part that is rented is treated under IAS 40. S.
makes perfect sense
but how can we distinguish each parts value. how much of the portion is related to IAS 16 OR IAS 40. Please explain
thanks
Dear Sohail,
it requires your judgment and some calculation. Let’s say you have a building with 40 offices. You use 10 offices for your own admin purposes and you rent out 30 offices. You bought the building at its fair value for CU 100. In this case, 10/40, or 1/4 will be treated as owner-occupied property under IAS 16 (i.e. 100/4 = 25, you will depreciate it or apply revaluation model). The remaining 30/40 or 3/4 will be treated as investment property (75 – revalue to fair value each year, or cost model). S.
Hi Silvia,
Really helpful article. I have a practical issue with my Company.
The parent company has rented one of the building to its subsidiary ever since constructed and is likely to continue it forever. Both parent and subsidiary are in same line of the business.
So, will in the separate financial statement, parent will classify that building as “Investment Property” and “Property Plant and Equipment” in consolidated financial statement.
Looks odd at first instance but logical at same time.
Hi Ankit,
thank you for the comment. Yes, it might look odd – but, it’s not unusual 🙂 S.
Hi Silvia
Please further explain what would be the treatment of rent expense for subsidiary and rent income for parents
Hi Ankit Bindal,
If an entity owns a property that is leased to and occupied by another group member being parent or subsidiary the property is not recognized as investment property in the consolidated financial statements because it will be treated as owner -occupied from the perspective of the group. However from and individual entity perspective the property is treated as an investment property if its the definition in IAS 40.
Excellent and easy to follow. Thanks!
Hi Silvia,
I have 2 scenarios to understand
1. A Vehicle rental company : How will it recognize its motor vehicles?? will it still apply IAS 16??
2. An equipment trading Co. : Which has some motor vehicles used for its own administration purposes, while a couple of vehicles it rents out to some external customers to earn some extra income.
Could you please assist me in understanding as to how this companies recognize the Motor vehicles in line with IFRS???
Option 2 is the cost model which is the same as IAS16 PPE
Hi Mohammed, both vehicles need to be recognized under IAS 16. Please remember that IAS 40 applies only to lands or buildings. S.
Hi Silvia,
Many thanks. I have a small query
Under both standards, IAS 40 and IAS 16 can include properties that are rented out right.
So how will we distinguish .
I guess,
If the rental property form part of the primary operation of the business ( say car rental co) then it will accounted under IAS16.
If the rental property is ( land or building) held to earn rental but does not form part of primary operation , we can account under IAS 40.
Kindly let me know whether my understanding is right.
Hi Priya,
I would not say so. As soon as you earn rentals from the buildings/lands, then it’s automatically classified as investment property, no matter your principal activities. S.
Thank you Silvia,
so under what circumstances;
– ‘for rental to others’ mentioned in IAS 16 definition of PPE will become applicable? can you give an example.?
Is the renal part mentioning in IAS16 only for properties other than land and building?
Thanks
Practically it is any PPE, except for land and buildings, because they are specifically listed in IAS 40. Examples: vehicles, machines, furniture… S.
Dear Silvia,
could you, please, provide your thoughts regarding situation below:
We have building, which is rented, but last month it was decided to sell it during upcoming 12 months. How I should treat it in my FS? As asset held for sale or as Investment property? We are still renting it 🙂
many thanks in advance!
If it meets the definition of held for sale, then IFRS 5 – please revise the conditions in IFRS 5.
Thanks for nice explanations
Thank you very much.
Hi Silvia, Congrats!
However, i have a problem with the computations of deferred tax assets. pls help
hak you.
Dear Silvia
I really admire your way of teaching and presentation.
Regards
Khalid
Nafees
Hi Silvia,
Excellent piece as usual please keep it up.
Chuka.
Good presentation. keep it up
Really helpful thanks.
you are doing an amazing job Silvia…it’s truly a great service..thanks a lot…
Hi Silvia,
Can a hotel which is owned by the company be classified as an investment property ? And if yes according to what basis?
Dear Maan,
it depends on what services hotel provides to its occupants. Normally, these “ancillary” services are quite significant, and therefore, a hotel should be classified as owner-occupied property (IAS 16), not investment property (IAS 40). S.
Thanks for making time to explain IFRS in its simplest way and treatment. You are doing a good job.
Patrick
Such a great explanation Silvia!! you are awesome!
Really an amazing job, and than you for what you are doing!!
Hi,
If cost model is applied, there is a requirement to disclose its fair value. Should this fair value be the fair value as at reporting date? Or can I disclose it using last year fair value?
At the reporting date.
Hi Silvia
Are you saying that under cost model for investment property, that the fair value should be disclosed at each reporting date? If yes, then what is the benefit of applying cost model when fair value will still be determined on annual basis?
Regards
That’s optional which model you would apply. Under cost model, you are charging depreciation and maybe for some reason it would be beneficial to show asset’s wear and tear by this. In my opinion, fair value model is more suitable for investment property.
Silvia, It will be really great if you also mention the exact reference in the SLFRS. Many people fail to go through the standards, they just rely on what others say. If you state the reference along with your explanation, it will be great for us to refer in case if we require more detail explanation.
True, Mohamed, but please realize that here, I’m trying to give quick answers here 🙂
Excellent presentation. Thank you for your efforts.
If there is a switch from cost model to fair value model, could you please advise how to deal with the fair value gain or loss?
All to profit or loss in the current year?
Or this is a change in accounting policies and retrospective adjustment needs to be made? And investment property and retained earnings have to be restated?
Many thanks!
Hi Silvia,
Its really Understandable the way you approach to the topic,
i have question regarding the Insured Damaged assets,correct
accounting treatment,
1: firstly, Booking the Insurance co. receivable & Accumulated
Depreciation and credit the Book value of assets any gain or loss
charged to the
2: subsequently, when the cash received than credited the insurance co.
What about Prepaid Insurance Expenses???? and above covered the whole accounting for Insured Assets???
thanks,
Thanks Silvia for the insight.
Very useful resource material. Easy to apply. Thank you
Hi,
Please how do you treat and disclose selling costs of an investment property on the financial statement.
Best regards
In profit or loss.
Hi,
As part of our property financing arrangements, we are required to register a bond over the property, which serves as security for the financier. The registration of such a bond is performed by an attorney and significant fees are charged to do so.
How would you treat these costs? Would they be considered as other transaction costs at initial recognition and form part of the cost of the property? Or are these regarded as a cost of financing, which should be expenses in profit or loss?
Regards
Riaan
Riaan, these are the financing costs. And, I don’t know the details of the arrangement, but if you keep your bond at amortized cost, then these transaction costs are not expensed in P/L immediately, but they are treated as a part of amortized cost/effective interest method. S.
Hello Silvia,why these costs are treated as finance costs,is that they are legal coasts therefore should be included in the purchase price?
Hi Njabulo, I understood that these costs were incurred to gain some cash to finance acquisition of an asset, not to bring the asset to the planned location and condition. S.
Hello Silvia,
Could I treat these costs as the borrowing costs under IAS 23 and capitalized to the cost of property>
Thank you very much.
Dear Silvia
What is the definition of building? is quayside of port or parking lot (rented to third party) can be clasified as building?
thanks
Hi Yulias,
IFRS do not define “building”. This is more an issue for tax rules. But definitely, parking lots meet the definition of PPE under IAS 16 🙂 S.
Hi, Silvia. Thank you for your insights. But I have a query. The standard says that if the the property is partly Investment Property and PPE and it cannot be sold or leased (finance) out separately, it would be classified as Investment Property only if the PPE portion is insignificant. What if both portions are significant but cannot be sold or leased out separately, how should it be accounted? Thanks, Silvia.
In this case, that would be accounted for under IAS 16, i.e. as PPE.
Hi, Silvia. May I know why? Thank you
hi, the answer is in your question. “…it would be classified as Investment Property only if the PPE portion is insignificant.” so if both portions are significant you cannot classify the asset as Investment Property therefore it is PPE.
Hello
If a property was used by the entity it would be classed under IAS 16. Lets say this value was 1000 less dep of 400 giving a NBV of 600. The entity now decides that it should be investment property and so its valued at fair value of $1,100. The difference of $500 should be recorded in the OCI-revaluation reserve?
Dear Nari,
yes, ecactly as you wrote. S.
I have one question where I did not find an answer neither in the standard nor in interpretation.
What is if a property (vacant) has been acquired with the intention to let it after a re-development phase of approx. 2.5 years.
At inception the property has to be classified under IAS 40 as IP (held at cost as FV was not reliably measurable). However, in year two an offer to sell the property is accepted and a pre-sale contract is signed.
Would this trigger a reclassification from IP to inventories (IFRS 5 is not relevant as the property is not available for immediate sale in its current condition)?
Many thanks in advance for your assessment.
Dear Michael,
yes, I think you get it right. The original purpose of holding your property was to let it after development phase, but now your intention is to sell it after some development is completed – it’s in inventories then. S.
Thanks for the efforts
Again I have concern as our company is in the process of converging from Local GAAP to IFRS.
our company activities includes constructing of Villas, Apartments on owned or leased lands, then rent them for periods ranging from 1-3 years contracts.
Do I need to classify those villas & apartments as PPE ( as my business to rent them) or investment properties as per IAS 40
Your usually response is needed.
Dear Ahmed,
that would be a typical IAS 40 Investment property. S.
Thanks
Good time of the day!
I have a very specific question.I would apprceiate a lot if you could answer.
According to IAS 40, paragraph 61, during transfer from PPE to investment property that will be carried at fair value, we treated any difference between CV and Fv of property in accordance with IAS 16.
So,for example, at the transfer, we had CV 10 and FV 12. The difference 2 was recognised as revaluation reserve.
But how should we treat it in subsequent years?
Say, we now have CV 12 and FV 9. Can that negative revaluation of 3 be split into: 2 – decrease of revaluation reserve, recognised in previous period and 1 directly recognised as a loss from revaluation in Income statement, i.e. consistent with IAS 16?
Because, otherwise, if we recognise all revaluation loss of 3 in IS in accordance with IAS 40 fair value model, we leave revaluation reserves of 2 untouched, while significantly lowering our net result in IS.
Thanks in advance
Dear Maule,
great question.
I think you are right in your last paragraph. IAS 40 in par. 62 mentions that in this case, the revaluation surplus is transferred to retained earnings on subsequent disposal only. It implies that until you dispose the asset, you normally follow fair value model and book all fair value changes in profit or loss.
In my opinion, this is fair, because if you would have purchased the same asset for its fair value of 12 (no revaluation surplus), under fair value model, you would have to do the same thing. S.
Dear Silvia,
Thank you very much for your reply.
Greetings from Kazakhstan & Merry Christamas!
HI Silvia,
Thank you for this great article.
I have a query: If a bank held a prperty from defaulted customer with intention to sell it in order to collect the amount of defaulted debt, what is the applicable IFRS for accounting for this property? Is it IAS 16, IAS 40 or IFRS 5?
Thank you
Omar
Normally, if all conditions are met (and it’s probable they would be met), the bank can classify the property as non-current asset held for sale, otherwise under IAS 40 (as the property would not be owner-occupied). Please read more about the classification as held for sale here. S.
Hello Silvia,
if there is a transfer from IAS2 to IAS40 will this be made at cost provided that i elect the cost model under IAS40?
Also, if i have a property under IAS2 and then i use it for own purposes IAS16, the transfer from IAS2 to IAS16 will be made again at cost?
What if our main business is to earn rentals is the building should be classified as fix asset or IP. ?
Hi Silvia,
Really insightfull vedio.
In Property, plant and equipment,, defines as tangible items that:
are held for use in the production or supply of goods or services, for rental to others, or for administrative
purposes;
the purpose also covers Rental and In Investment property also covering rentals..
Could you Please tell us how to differentiate.
A hotel which only provides rooms to stay, rooms will be treated as inventory or PPE or Investment property?
HI. Siva .It was excellant
Dear Silvia,
Thanks for the write up, its informative.
i have a question on transfer from owner occupied property to investment property. If i am currently following revaluation model under IAS 16 for the owner occupied property whereas for investment property I am following cost model, on the date of transfer at what value should i recognize the property under IAS 40?
Hi Sandeep,
this is a very odd – measuring PPE using revaluation model (i.e. fair values) and investment property using cost model. It’s not against the standards, however, I’m not sure if it really ensures the true and fair view. Just my opinion.
Nevertheless, this situation is not solved in IAS 40, however, I would apply the analogical method as the one when you transfer the asset from investment property at fair value to PPE. You should simply take the fair value at the date of change as the cost of an asset. S.
Madam Silvia
I have following practical question. Can you please look into and respond?
A company changes from cost to fair value mode. On 1 Jan 2016 the carrying amount of the property is CUR 750 and the fair value of the property is CUR 1000. During the year end 31 Dec 2016 company capitalizes further additions of CUR 400 and borrowing costs CUR 100. Now the carrying cost as on 31 Dec 2016 is CUR 1250. The fair value of the property at 31 Dec 2016 is CUR 1400. What will be gain to be recognized in income statement CUR 650 (1400 – 750) or CUR 150 [1400 – 1250 (750 + 400 + 100)]? If answer is CUR 650 then whether additions during the year (400 + 100) will be capitalized or will there be a different treatment? Further, has fair value as on 01 Jan 2016 (CUR 1000) any relevance?
Thank you.
Madam,
till last year the Investment property and the financial instruments are reported at cost model. Now the company has decided to use fair value model. The company has engaged consultant to value the investment property and the financial instrument such as Bond and Equity at fair value. The difference between carrying value and the fair value is so huge.
also, the company is yet to adopt full IAS and IFRS, and intends to adopt full IAS and IFRS by June 2017.
Under such case, how should I treat the fair value gains for Investment property and Financial instruments. Can I consider this initial fair value gains (Fair value-carrying amount) as revaluation reserve. the subsequent gains/loss will be routed through P/L.
Just a clarification on Owner Occupied, what if a residential property owned by the a business is used to house the business management personnel. Should it be classified as Investment property (IAS40) or PPE (IAS16)
Hi Sylvia
I am a bit confuse. The company owns a office park with 3 stand-alone buildings. One building is use by them as there head office and the other 2 are rented out under a operating lease. Can this whole land be classified as joint use property or can I say the head office is ppe-owner occupied and the other 2 are Investment property…please help
dear Silvia,
i dont know what is the difference between transfer TO and transfer FROM investment property… should we record the depreciation in the year of transfer from investment property to fixed asset ?
Dear Silvia,
In case we chose to keep the investment property at fair value, how often should we revalue them? Do we have to do it yearly? If not, how do we prove that the value of the investment property did not change from one year to another?
Thank you,
Adriana
Dear Adriana,
for investment property under IAS 40 – yes, you do need to account for the change in fair value on a yearly basis. S.
Dear Silvia,
Thank you for your answer.
Adriana
Hi Silvia – can capital raising fees and loan structuring fees be capitalised to the cost of the investment property (i.e cost of incurring the loan)? the loan was incurred to finance
the develolment/building costs -interest has also been capitalised to the cost of the property.
Dear Sylvia,
a company owns a land held for rental to sellers on open city market (fruits, vegetables, fish). No contract is signed, the sellers pay a certain amount to the company for the “place” they can put their stand. How to account for this land? It is not covered. IAS 40?
Thanks
Dear Syliva
please help to solve this dilemma
a company bought a land and measure it at fair value as investment property,after years, the company decided to erect a building on the land to be used also as investment property.
Now the fair value of the new investment property( both land and building) is not reliably measurable and the company will apply IAS 40, para 53 to record building under construction at cost until construction complete.
The Dilemma is how to account for land element, which will cease to be separate element anymore.
should we record it at its initial cost? continue recording at fv separately from the building, use current fv as cost basis during construction? or other treatment?
the company policy is to consider each investment building and its land as one asset
Could you kindly give me the details of bibliography for this page?
If a property has been recognized as an Investment property mistakenly & this should have been a PPE. A revaluation was also recognized.
Could you please help me rectify this !!!!!
I have to get this sorted at the earliest.
Dear Shameela,
if this was a mistake or an error, just correct it as an error in line with IAS 8. If it is material, then correct the previous periods, too. If it’s not material, just correct the error in the current period. You can read more here. S.
Hi Silvia,
Hope you are doing good.
My question” If a property transferred from IAS 16 to IAS40, and you picked up a fair value model then as per the standard firstly, we need to revalue the assets under IAS16, so what would be the treatment of that revaluation reserve and when this revaluation reserve move into retained earnings?As per IAS 16 we can transfer the revaluation reserve into retained earning at the time of disposal of asset.But here we are not disposing the assets and we only reclassifying the asset.Could you please suggest?
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Deepak
Hi Deepak,you leave the revaluation reserve as it is and you would reclassify it to retained earnings upon subsequent disposal of investment property (not through profit or loss). Please see par. 62 b (ii) of IAS 40.
Dear Silvia, Thanks a lot! This is really very helpful..
Regards Deepak
Hi，very helpful.！Could you also explain what’s the difference between fair value model and revaluation model? Thank you very much
Hi Sylvia,
Is there a choice between IAS 16 and IAS 40 for accounting treatment of building held for rent purposes?
Further as per scope of IAS 16, the standard shall be applied in accounting for PPE except when another Standard requires or permits a different accounting treatment. Does it mean IAS 40 should be applied?
Regards,
Dipesh Shrestha
Hi Dipesh,
If you use the building to earn rentals, then you have to apply IAS 40 (cost or fair value model). S.
Hi Silvia,
One of my client is leasing out a parcel of land to a foreign company and this foreign company constructed a building for manufacturing operations. then this foreign company rented to my client the office unit (part of the building constructed). In the book of my client the land is recognized as investment property measured at cost. my concern is do we need to separate the value of the land since part of it is rented to foreign company and part of it is leased back to my client?
Thanks
Hi Silvia,
If I have a building that I rent to customers usually, but at a specific moment I suspended the rent, and the customers left the building because of painting and decororating. From the period of suspension I must transfer the carrying amount from IAS 40 to IAS 16 PPE????
Thank you
Hi Silvia
If I have land and building classified as Investment Property under IAS 40 using cost model. Now we want to change the accounting policy from cost to fair value model.
Is there any restatement required in the prior periods or we can take the difference between cost and current fair value to P&L. May thanks
Very well explained..! Excellent Silvia
Hi Silvia,
Thanks for clear explanation.
I have a question, whether should company calculate depreciation for revalued investment property or not.
Thank you,
If you apply the fair value model, then no.
Hi Sylvia, even if the revaluations do not occur every year? Say for example they occur every 5 years.
I cannot find a reference in IAS 40 whether to depreciate in this instance or not.
Thanks,
Well, if you apply fair value model under IAS 40, it implies that you should revalue investment property at least once a year. It is said in IAS 40.33 – you should measure the property at fair value after initial recognition. The implication is that if you do not revalue at the end of each reporting period, your investment property would not be measured at fair value at that date. And of course, depreciation charge does not make any sense since you are recognizing fair value changes each year.
The things are different at revaluation model under IAS 16 – in this case, you can revalue every 5 years and charge depreciation.
Hie Silvia
We have constructed a building, used for both owner occupied and rentals. How do we show the investment property in year one, at cost or fair value? do we depreciate in year one
Dear silvia
If building is given on rent then whether it will be classified under IAS 40 or IAS 16 . As the defination of prorperty,plant and equipment under IAS 16 and defination of investment property under IAS 40 both covers building given on rentals.
what should be the process of recording land that are purchased for constructing plot ( business- real estate) ?
1. Inventory or
2. investment property?
Hi Sahil,
it depends if you construct it for your own use or for your client within your operating cycle. S.
Hi Silvia 😉 Would the transfers to and from investment property also be a change under IAS8? Or would it simply be a transfer of use?
Hi Sanam, it’s not the change in accounting policy. It is simply the transfer triggered by the change in use of the asset (not your accounting policy or estimates). S.
Thank you so much!
Hi Silvia 🙂 Really appreciates your efforts..Can u please elaborate a little bit about subsequent treatment of “revaluation surplus” arising on transfer from IAS-16 (Cost Modal) to IAS-40(Fair Value Modal).. How such surplus shall be dealt with subsequently??? i.e can a subsequent fair value decrease be adjusted against such surplus???
Hi SIlvia
Upon disposal of an investment property say for $100 and closing costs of $5, do we journal $100 and take $ 5 to P&L or because the closing net receipt is $95 cash, that is the amount to journal.
I have been faced with a transaction recently where the net amt was taken to the books, hence the query. I thought i should be able to see a journal with the contract price. Many thanks.
Kind regards
Rajeev
Hi Silvia
The earlier version of IAS 40, paragraph 38 provided that “The fair value of investment property shall reflect market conditions at the end of the reporting period”. This is to say that the investment property shall me remeasured at end of each reporting period, and the difference be taken up in the profit and loss account.
It is noted that the current IAS 40 had removed paragraph 38. Does it mean that a company do not need to remeasure the fair value of investment property at the end of each financial year? If so, can a company choose to adopt a policy of remeasurement (e.g. every 3 years) and ignore fluctuations in fair values between remeasurement periods?
IP accounting policy is cost model, my understanding is that it means you will have to account for for it as per ISA16 PPE. does this mean i can reevaluate the IP and recognize any revaluation as revaluation surplus, because ISA 16 does gives that option to reevaluate PPE.
Not at all. For investment property, you have the option to apply cost model as per IAS 16, not the full IAS 16 – so no revaluation model. S.
Hi Silvia,
I work for a company (ABC Inc.) that owns a lot a buildings, it bought those buildings through the time (many year ago).
ABC applies IAS 40 Investment Property for tha accounting treatmen, due to the fact that these buildings and lands are hold for earning rentals and for capital appreciation.
Subsequent measurement is made using fair value model.
This year signed a lease agreement with other entity, in the following terms: 25 years duration, fix payments are slightly below rental market, there are not purchase option, there are not residual value guarantees.penalties for terminating are 2 moths of rent. (not much).
Does ABC company acount its lands and buildings in line with IAS 40 or IFRS 16?
thank you for your help.
Hi Silvia, is property acquired by an entity(financial institution) in settlement of loans through foreclosure be coincided as investment property? what is the proper classification of such asset?
kindly regards
Hi Bereket, it depends on what the financial institution wants to do with the property. In most cases, the banks simply sell the property to get cash and thus it is classified as held for sale under IFRS 5. In some cases banks decide to keep the property and earn rentals – then it’s investment property under IAS 40, but it’s not very typical.
Hi Silvia,may i know if the investment property is classified as held-for-sale, may i know which takes precedence? IAS40 or IFRS5
Hi Hc, if you hold your investment property at fair value model under IAS 40, then IFRS 5 does not apply – you continue to apply IAS 40. If your investment property is at cost model, then you apply IFRS 5.
Hi Sylvia,
My company owns a number of undeveloped plots of land recognised as Investment property (IAS40). We recently constructed wall fences around them. The question is how to treat the cost of the wall fences. Should we recognised them as a separate Non-current asset category (e.g Land Improvements), add the costs to the value of the land, or expense them?
Hi Silvia,
I was wondering the first time adoption of IAS 40. Let’s assume I have been measuring investment property from cost and I do not know their fair value for previous years. . I decided to use IFRSs and apply fair value model for investment property. I only know the fair value of the investment property for the current year. From which value wilI I present the investment property on the opening balance sheet, from cost? IFRS 1 seem to assume that I already have the fair value of the investment property for the sate of transition. I was confused because of the paragraph IFRS 1 IG 61 – “An entity that adopts the fair value model in IAS 40 measures its investment property at fair value at the date of transition to IFRSs. The transitional requirements of IAS 40 do not apply (paragraph 9 of the IFRS).”
Thank you.
Simple..specific..and to the point summary….thank you Silvia
Thank you so much. When we rent an office from other can we consider this as investement property
If you are a lessee and you are using the office for your admin purposes – NO.
Thank you , then can we take it as a prepayment
Hi silva thank you for your great explanation you are adding value to my skill
Dear Silvia,
one real estate company bought a plot of land in 2016 and build a condo for sale. The condo will complete in 2018 and hand over to the buyer. Do the land and condo account for Inventory under IAS 2 for initial recognition?
Yes, if it is for the resale right at the inception. S.
dear Silvia ,
you are the best
Oh, thank you 🙂
Dear silvia,
Thank you so much for such a great summary.
But I still have one confusion and would really appreciate if you can take some time from your busy schedule to answer this….
I and still unable to understand that whether all the fixed assets in a building ( e.g. A furnished apartment which includes furniture and fixtures etc) which is classified under ias 40 should be depreciated or not, as these fixed assests will have wear and tear with the passage of time and have a limited useful life, unlike building itself.
So should all these be part of ias 40 or should these be treated separately under ias 16 and charge depreciation.
Hi Silvia,
Assume I have three properties: P1, P2 and P2. If i measured P1 using fair value model, can I measured P2 and P3 at cost model? Thanks
Hi Silvia
May I know what is the differences between “For rental to others” under IAS16 and “To earn rental” under IAS40?
Hi Liew,
IAS 40 relates to property (see the definition, but it is mostly land and buildings), IAS 16 to everything else (cars…) with respect to rentals.
Hi, I would like to ask a few questions:
1) Let’s say a 15 storey building that was once use as a company’s headquarters and now it is redeveloped into a 30 storey building (and will be used for retail shops and parking lots) is this a change of usage from PPE to investment property? Must I state there is a change in initial cost of the building? What is the accounting treatment for this if the initial measurement is unidentified? Can I assume that the initial measurement is depreciated under cost model since the fair value of the building is not given….
2) Lets say an investment holding company owns an apartment building and some units are unsold, are these units under inventories and the accounting treatment must be in accordance to IAS 2?
3) A building was leased to another business company and now the leased is expired and now the owner wants to claim it back and use it for their own usage. Is this a transfer from investment property to PPE?
Hope you answer soon!! I am struggling for my mid terms
Hi Miya, 1. yes, you might consider a change from PPE to investment property. 2. if the apartments are to be sold, they are inventories, not investment property; 3. yes.
Thanks Silvia, can I know the link to the article about inventories?
Here.
Hi Silvia, so parking lots and retail shops are considered as an investment property right?
It depends what services are attached to these properties, but in most cases yes. Please refer to this article for more information.
Hi – Thank you for the wonderful insight on the standard. Just one question please, from where does ‘there is no depreciation if revaluations are carried out every year’ stem from please?
Thank you 🙂
It wants to say that if you apply the fair value model (“revaluations are carried out every year”), then you do not depreciate. Please revise par. 33 and following of IAS 40 – there’s no mention about depreciation.
Thanks for replying.. unfortunately I couldn’t find the mention that revaluations need to be carried out every year. I looked from par. 33 to 35 of IAS 40.
I know that the revaluation model under IAS 16 requires one to carry out a revaluation of property frequently so that the revalued amount is not materially different from the carrying amount. I am interested to see if the fair value method under IAS 40 requires something similar, i.e. if investment property needs to be revalued frequently, however I cannot find anything of the sort.
Vanessa,
sometimes you need to read between the lines. Paragraph 33 says: After initial recognition, an entity that chooses the fair value model shall measure all of its investment property at fair value, except in the cases described in paragraph 53.” Therefore, it implies that in every single financial statements you take in your hands, the investment property is measured at fair value at that date. Thus yes, you need to restate the investment property to its fair value at the end of each reporting period. Revaluation model under IAS 16 is different, because it says that PPE is carried at revalued amount – which is FV at the date of revaluation less subsequent depreciation and thus it means that you do not have to revalue each reporting period.
excellence good sumary i uderestand it
A company has a a four similar office blocks. it has decided to house all the staff in one block and renting out the vacant blocks (3 blocks). How can we treat the office block? as owner occupied or the 3 blocks as investment property and the 1 block owner occupied? The fair value less costs to sell the blocks is a single amount. Thanks
You should apportion it and treat 3/4 as investment property and 1/4 as a property, plant and equipment, regardless of the fact that it is one amount.
Please, can repair cost be added to Investment Property that has been revalued in the previous year? The Property is being used for Rental.
Thanks,
We are an infrastructure business that has both investment property and property for the production of goods or services. We have some that is a little clouded and unclear though. We have an airport that we run and rent out hangars to rescue helicopter and other such related services. We currently do not treat these as investment property. We also have a port within which we have marshalling and scaling sheds that are rented to contractors. We also do not treat these as investment property. Reading the guidance I think that their nature is more of a service as they are not held for capital appreciation but they do derive a rental. What are your thoughts? Thanks
hi silvia
how it is differing from IAS 16 ?
Hello Silvia
Where I am a lessee in an operating lease for a property and I also lease out the property. I understand that I have the option of accounting for it under IAS 40. However, a significant portion of my lease payments are contingent on revenue (3.5% of revenue generated). Do I still have the option of using IAS 40?
When there is a transfer from inventories to investment property carried at fair value ,how to treat the difference between the cost of the inventories and its fair value?
In profit or loss. Please see paragraph IAS 40.63.
Hi Silvia,
Many thanks. I have a small query
What if the company’s main activity is to earn rental income. while the company is having a lease land and on that land company constructed a building and rented that building. in this particular case is the building is a classified under investment property or under PPE
Dear Silvia,
Your style of presentation and clarification is amazing, its very easy to understanding.
Thank you
Dear Silvia,
I have a question in regards to evidence of transfer from/to investment property IAS40.57.
We have a property (a sportsground) that is used as owner occupied and classified as PPE, now the Board of Directors (BOD) of the company have made a decision to develop this property into a much bigger property so to lease it out tenants to generate more revenue.
Now the question is can this decision by the BOD be considered as evidence for the transfer of the property from PPE to Investment Property?
Thank you
Excellent presentation. Thank you very much for your efforts.
I have question on valuation of investment properties. Is it compulsory to go for independent valuation under cost model as it gives only disclosure in the FS or management valuation is acceptable?
Appreciate your effort, I have one query…In case of IAS 40, we are trying to switch from cost model to fair value model in FY 2019 for our Investment properties – Land.
We have opening value of land at cost less Accumulated impairment done in past.
My question is…when we switch from cost model to fair value model, should we adjust all difference in retained earnings as this consider to be change in accounting policy or first impairment should be adjusted and routed through PL before transferring to retained earnings because in past impairment loss debited to PL so ideally the same should be reversed in PL only.
Excellent presentation! The topic has never been made simple like this before, the summary covers the Subject matter and makes you become an experts.
My question is; under this topics both IAS 40 and 16, which items belong to Other Comprehensive Income (OCI)?
Hi Silvia,
May I know why do we need to use subsequent measurement? Struggling with my assignment.
Thank you.
Hi Silvia,
Can you please answer to one issue about non-current asset.
For example if entity has only one building “business center” and all of the business offices in the “business center” are for rent, as this is the business model of the entity. Normally i should use IAS 40 rules(because the intention is earn rental and this is building, but if the entity manages and servicing the offices(For example: Cleaning, repair services) does it mean that there is significant part of services as Ancillary services and i shoud account as IAS16?
Hi
How frequently we should do the valuation of properties if we follow the cost model? Will it be fine if we do every three years?
This is very valid question. Appreciate if SIlvia can reply this. Because Companies find it very difficult to get valuation every year just for disclosure purpose.
How often should an investment property be revalued? Annually?
Is there another method of depreciating an investment property aside from the straight-line method.
Yes, annually. You can select the appropriate depreciation method if you do apply cost model instead of FV model.
Are you saying that depreciation method for investment property aside from the straight-line method would be applicable? If yes, can you suggest other methods?
Is it specifically stated to revalue investment property annually by the standard?
You can apply any suitable depreciation methods for investment property, if you measure it under cost model, because IAS 40 directly refers to IAS 16. So you can apply diminishing balance, or any other systematic methods that would reflect the usage of the property.
As for revaluations – it is not explicitly stated using these words, but if you apply fair value model, then you need to keep your investment property at fair value at the reporting date, hence if your reporting period is 1 year, there you go. If you do not revalue to FV at the end of the reporting date, but you keep it in the older fair value, then your investment property might NOT be at fair value at the reporting date. Of course, if you report quarterly, then you need to revalue each quarter. You get the point.
And, even if you apply cost model, you still need the fair value for the disclosure purposes (because under cost model, you do NOT keep investment property at fair value!).
Thank you. This is quite helpful
Dear Silvia
Thanks for sharing the details about IAS40 which is easy to comprehend. We have a manufacturing company which produces and sells the products. last year due to market condition and competition, we had to shut down one of our manufacturing unit and we reclassified the plant and machinery of that unit as Asset Held for Sale. Later after few months we gave that manufacturing unit on lease with a one year lease agreement on renewable basis. Can you please let me know in such circumstances, would the plant and machinery given on lease be reclassified to “Asset Held for Investment” ( which was previously considered as Asset Held for Sale) at book value and effective the lease agreement should we start depreciating those assets. We also have an existing warehouse property which is classified as “Asset held for Investment” since long valued at Fair Value each year. So can we have two different type of Assets valued differently, one at fair value and second one at Cost value shown in our financials.
Hi Silvia, if i have a chillers on my investment properties (Building) which was included when purchased the property, however if the chillier is require to be changed, the new cost of the chillers whether it should be capitalized and depreciate over its life or should be an addition amount to the investment properties?
Hi Silvia! I have one question. For property investment should we separate from PPE chart of account or put it in the same chart of account ? Thank you in advanced.
I would strongly advise to separate, because you need to show investment property separately from PPE in your balance sheet.
Hi Silvia,
If an investment property under fair value model is sold off, what are the necessary accounting entries required? Thank you in advance 🙂
Hi Silvia,
First let me say that I am loving your summaries and videos. I have a question I was not able to answer after I reviewed the guidance. In 2019 we adopted IFRS and now all of our store leases are finance leases. We sub-lease part of one of our finance lease. According to IFRS 16 the sub-lease is an operating lease. Would the asset under the operating sub-lease be considered investment property? Would it make a difference if the sub-lease was a finance lease?
Hello Silvia,
Thank you very much for the great work please keep it up.
My question is that, Why we do not charge depreciation when we record a property using Fair value model?
What is the logic behind ?
Waiting for your reply thank you
Hi Sylvia,
if the investment property measured at Fair Vlaue is given as a gift, how would this be accounted. Thank you very much
Hi Josie, please read this article about the free assets, maybe it will help!
Hi Sylvia,
Thanks a lot for your help. In my case, we are the one gifting the investment propertyto the shareholder, i shall credit P/L -the expense account right? Thanks a lot.
Unless there is a different substance (like repayment of a loan by investment property or similar), then yes.
Thank you very much for your help.
Hi
What is the purpose of the cost model in IAS 40? If the intention is to see growth in these properties then why have cost model as a measurement basis?
If we construct a building for rental to others, but it is not completed (WIP) yet.
How can we pass an accounting transaction for it?
I am still confused on how to account for improvements especially Work in Progress (WIP) Cost. If we were to begin construction on a vacant land that was originally classified as investment property and at reporting date there was a WIP balance for the improvements. Is it allowable under IAS 40 for the improvements to be excluded from FV valuations. If not what are the implications?
Hello, Silvia!
First, I wanna thank you for making awesome videos and articles that explains accounting standards in a simplier manner.
I have a question. I just want to know what is the better subsequent measurement when dealing with investment property? Is it the Cost model or fair value model? And what is the reason behind it. Thank you!
Hello Silvia,
I really appreciate the detailed explanations to IFRS and practical examples. I found it really helpful on a number of occasions.
I have a question regarding the transition from the F.V model to Cost model. Assuming the reasons for the transition are solid and better presentation would be achieved from the Cost model, how should I make such a transition?
Should I account for the change retrospectively as per IAS 8? or a simple reversal of the net Fair Value gain/loss in the year would be enough?
Also, what disclosures are necessary for such a transition?
Keep up the good work,
Best regards from Cyprus,
Christos
Many thanks for you Selvia
But I have a problem here that I still Can t see a different between Cost Model and recogniIng with property in cost
May I have miss understanding
The cost model under IAS 40 is the same as the cost model under IAS 16, if that’s what you are asking.
Hi
why does under ias 40 increase in fair value recognized in pl although itis unrealized gain
and in ias 16 increase in fair value recognized in OCI
Hi Silvis, Thanks for your amazing notes; i have a question outside this topic if possible. What is the best accounting treatment when a company receives a PDC (post dated cheque) from a customer? Thanks
Hello,
Thanks for your good notes; I have a question, not on the topic.
How briefly should anyone starting and wanting to understand IASs look at them?