CHAPTER 15
CONTRACTS, LEASES AND LICENCES
INTRODUCTION
- the distinction between operating leases, resource leases and financial leases;
- permits to use a natural resource;
- permits to undertake specific activities;
- public-private partnerships;
- service concession contracts;
- marketable operating leases;
- entitlements to future goods and services on an exclusive basis.
THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN OPERATING LEASES, RESOURCE LEASES AND FINANCIAL LEASES
- in the case of operating leases and resource leases, there is no change of economic ownership and the legal owner continues to be the economic owner. Resource leases are used for natural resources, such as land and radio spectra. Operating leases are used for all other non-financial assets,
- in the case of financial leases, there is a change of economic ownership of the asset, and the legal owner of the asset is not considered to be the economic owner. Financial leases can apply to all non-financial assets, including in some situations natural resources.
Type of lease |
Method of recording for the user |
---|---|
Operating lease (not for natural resources) |
The user is not the economic owner of the non-financial asset The rentals are recorded as payments for a service, intermediate consumption or final consumption expenditure by general government, households and NPISHs |
Resource lease (only for natural resources) |
The user is not the economic owner of the natural resource. Payments are rents (property income) |
Financial lease |
The user is the economic owner of a non-financial asset, financed by a loan from the lessor. The payments are for the most part re-payment of principal and payments of interest on the loan. Part of the interest payments may be recorded as FISIM when the lender is a financial intermediary. This payment is classified as intermediate consumption or final consumption expenditure by general government, households and NPISHs |
Type of transaction |
Type of use, and asset involved |
---|---|
Intermediate consumption |
Operating lease of produced assets, for example machines and intellectual property rights FISIM services on a financial lease |
Consumption of fixed capital |
Only for produced assets, and only for the economic owner |
Final consumption expenditure |
Operating lease of consumer durables Purchase of consumer durables (including when financed by a financial lease or hire purchase) FISIM services on a financial lease to final consumers |
Purchase of non-financial assets |
|
Fixed capital formation |
Purchase of produced assets (including when financed by a financial lease) |
Acquisition of natural resources |
Purchase of natural resources, including the right to use to extinction |
Acquisition of other non-produced assets |
Purchase of the right to use a natural resource for an extended period, for example a fishing quota |
Property income payments |
|
Rent |
Resource lease, i.e. payment for the use of a natural resource |
Interest |
Financial lease, i.e. purchase of a non-financial asset financed simultaneously by a loan |
Financial transaction: loan |
Financial lease, i.e. purchase of a non-financial asset financed simultaneously by a loan |
Operating leases
Financial leases
A financial lease requires the lessee to bear the risks and rewards associated with using the asset. Therefore, any holding gains and losses on the expected value of the asset at the end of the lease period shall be borne by the lessee. In this case, where the asset is legally acquired by the lessee at the end of the lease period, then the cash payments are recorded as the repayment of the loan since the asset is already on the balance sheet of the lessee.
If the asset reverts to the lessor, then a transaction representing the purchase of the asset is recorded at the current market value of the asset. The proceeds are used to repay the amount outstanding on the loan and any difference between those amounts is recorded as a capital transfer. The payments over the lease period will often include pre-payments of the acquisition of the asset so that the transaction occurs for no cash consideration, since the loan is fully repaid at this time.
If a further lease period is negotiated, then the new contract needs to be analysed to see whether it is a continuation of a financial lease or an operating lease.
Definition: a hire purchase arrangement exists when a durable good is sold to a purchaser in return for agreed future payments. The buyer takes possession of the good immediately, though legally it remains the property of the lessor as collateral/guarantee until all agreed payments have been made by the lessee.
Resource leases []
Permits to use a natural resource
- the owner can extend or withhold permission to continued use of the asset from one lease period to the next;
- the owner may allow the resource asset to be used for an extended period of time in such a way that in effect the user controls the use of the resource during this time with little, if any, intervention from the owner;
- the owner permits the resource asset to be used to extinction.
The second option may not only lead to a recording of rent but also to the creation of an asset for the user, distinct from the resource itself but where the value of the resource asset and the asset allowing use of it are linked.
This asset (category AN.222) is only recognised if its value, the benefits to the holder in excess of the value accruing to the issues, is realisable through transferring the asset. Such permits are first observed through economic appearance of assets (category K.1, see point (g) of paragraph 6.06). If the value of the asset is not realised it will tend towards zero as the lease period ends.
The third option results in the sale (or possibly an expropriation) of the natural resource itself.
Type of use |
Method of recording |
---|---|
Permission for temporary use, possibly for a long time |
Resource lease: rent (property income) |
Control by user during an extended period, risks and rewards borne by the user, transferability of permit at a realisable value |
Rent and creation of new asset for the right to use the natural resource |
Use to extinction; permanent use (all risks and rewards borne by the user) |
Sale of natural resource |
- rent in case of resource leases;
- disposition of non-produced assets, e.g. sales of natural resources or sales of licences for exploiting during an extended period of time;
- dividend from a public corporation exploiting natural resources;
- corporation tax paid by corporations exploiting natural resources.
Permits to undertake specific activities
Type of transaction |
Type of use/purchase and type of asset and type of payment |
---|---|
Intermediate consumption |
Operating lease of produced assets, e.g. machines and intellectual property rights Regular payments by corporations for the delivery of water FISIM services related to the provision of a financial lease |
Consumption of fixed capital |
Only for produced assets, and for the economic owner |
Final consumption expenditure |
Operating lease of consumer durables Purchase of consumer durables, including when financed by a financial lease, or through a hire purchase agreement |
Purchase of non-financial assets |
|
Fixed capital formation |
Purchase of produced assets (including when financed via a financial lease) |
Acquisition of natural resources |
Purchase of a natural resource including the right to use to extinction Purchase of the right to use a natural resource for an extended period e.g. a fishing quota |
Acquisition of other non-produced assets |
Transferable time-share arrangements Purchase of a contract transferable to a third party Contracts for future production, for example contracts with footballers and writers |
Payment as property income |
Resource lease, i.e. payment for short-term use of natural resource |
Rent |
Regular payments for the right to extract water Financial lease, i.e. purchase of a non-financial asset financed simultaneously by a loan |
Income transfer |
Permits issued by government to undertake a specific activity not dependent on qualifying criteria, or with a disproportionate charge compared to the costs of administering the permit scheme Emission permits issued by the government to control total emissions |
Other taxes on production |
|
Financial transaction: loan |
Financial lease, i.e. purchase of a non-financial asset financed simultaneously by a loan |
Other change in volume of assets |
Exhaustion of natural resources by the owner Illegal logging, fishing or hunting (uncompensated seizure of cultivated assets or natural resources) |
Change in the price of assets |
Expiry of contracts, licences and permits recorded as assets |
- the activity concerned does not utilise an asset belonging to government; if it does, the permission to use the asset is treated as an operating lease, a financial lease, a resource lease or possibly the acquisition of an asset representing permission to use the asset at the discretion of the licensee over an extended period;
- the permit is not issued subject to a qualifying criterion; such permits are treated as either taxes or payments for services;
- the number of permits is limited and so allows the holder to make monopoly profits when undertaking the activity concerned;
- the permit holder must be able to sell the permit to a third party.
- the activity concerned does not utilise an asset belonging to the permit issuer; if it does, the permission to use the asset is treated as an operating lease, a financial lease or a resource lease;
- the number of permits is limited and so allows the holder to make monopoly profits when undertaking the activity concerned;
- the permit holder must be legally and practically able to sell the permit to a third party.
Public-private partnerships (PPPS)
Governments engage in PPPs for a variety of reasons, such as the hope that private managements will lead to more efficient production and that access to a broader range of financial sources can be obtained and the wish to reduce government debt.
In the contract period the PPP contractor has the legal ownership. Once the contract period is over, the government has both economic and legal ownership.
More details about the treatment of PPPs are provided in Chapter 20 (government accounts).
Service concession contracts
Marketable operating leases (AN.221)
Entitlements to future goods and services on an exclusive basis (AN.224)
- exclusive rights to have a person work for them (e.g. football players) or to publish literary works or musical performances. The value of such rights is the profit that can be made on transferring the rights above the costs of cancelling the existing contract;
- time share arrangements. Only part of the time share arrangements has to be regarded as the acquisition of an asset:
- if the owner has a nominated space, available in perpetuity, is eligible to act as part of the management committee for the scheme, or can sell or bequeath the allocation at will, then the arrangement is most likely to be an asset of the same type as a house;
- if the owner has a fixed agreement to have some form of accommodation available at a given period for a fixed length of time, it is likely that this represents a pre-paid lease, i.e. pre-paid final consumption expenditure by households;
- this pre-paid lease could be sublet occasionally or sold for the rest of the period of the lease as a transferable operating lease;
- a participant in a points-based scheme may have an account that is receivable only by way of an asset.
List of abbreviations and acronyms
ABO | accrued benefit obligation |
ABS | asset-backed security |
BPM6 | Balance of payments manual, sixth edition |
CCP | central counterparty clearing house |
CDS | credit default swap |
CIF | cost, insurance and freight |
COFOG | Classification of the Functions of Government |
COICOP | Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose |
COPNI | Classification of the Purposes of Non-Profit Institutions Serving Households |
COPP | Classification of Outlays of Producers by Purpose |
CPA | Classification of Products by Activity |
EAA | economic accounts for agriculture |
EAFRD | European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development |
EAGF | European Agricultural Guarantee Fund |
EC | European Commission |
ECB | European Central Bank |
EMU | economic and monetary union |
ESA | European System of Accounts |
ESO | employee stock option |
ESSPROS | European System of Integrated Social Protection Statistics |
EU | European Union |
EURIBOR | European interbank offered rate |
EUROSTAT | the statistical office of the European Union |
FDI | foreign direct investment |
FISIM | financial intermediation services indirectly measured |
FOB | free on board |
FRA | forward rate agreement |
FVC | financial vehicle corporation |
GAB | general arrangements to borrow |
GDP | gross domestic product |
GFS | government finance statistics |
GNI | gross national income |
GVA | gross value added |
IAS | international accounting standards |
IASB | International Accounting Standards Board |
IASC | International Accounting Standards Committee |
IC | insurance corporations |
ICLS | International Conference of Labour Statisticians |
ICPF | insurance corporations and pension funds |
ICT | information, communications and telecommunications |
IFRS | International Financial Reporting Standards |
IIP | international investment position |
ILO | International Labour Organisation |
IMF | International Monetary Fund |
IMTS | international merchandise trade statistics |
INTRASTAT | statistical collection system |
I-O | input-output |
IPO | initial public offering |
IPSASB | International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board |
ISIC | International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities |
ISIN | international securities identification number |
KAU | kind-of-activity unit |
KLEMS | capital, labour, energy, materials and services |
LIBOR | London interbank offered rate |
MFI | monetary financial institution |
MMF | money market fund |
MSITS | Manual on statistics of international trade in services |
N.E.C. | not elsewhere classified |
NAB | new arrangements to borrow |
NACE | general industrial classification of economic activities within the European Union |
NDP | net domestic product |
NOS | net operating surplus |
NPI | non-profit institution |
NPISH | non-profit institution serving households |
NUTS | nomenclature of territorial units for statistics |
OECD | Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development |
OMFI | other monetary financial institution |
OTC | over the counter |
PAYE | pay as you earn |
PBO | projected benefit obligation |
PF | pension funds |
PIM | perpetual inventory method |
PPP | purchasing power parity |
PPP | public-private partnership |
PPS | purchasing power standard |
PRGF | Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility |
R & D | research and development |
ROW | rest of the world |
SAM | social accounting matrix |
SDR | special drawing right |
SEEA | System of Environmental-Economic Accounts |
SNA | System of National Accounts |
SOCX | Social Expenditure Database |
SPE | special-purpose entity |
SPV | special-purpose vehicle |
STRIPS | Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal Securities |
UCITS | undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities |
UN | United Nations |
VAT | value added tax |
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