Some Cross-Cutting Issues 323
- If a limited number of permits are issued with
the intent to restrict discharges, the payment
should be treated as taxes on the use of goods and
on permis sion to use goods or perform activities
(11452) if the medium into which the water is
discharged is not regarded as an asset in macro-
economic statis tics. - If the medium into which the water is dis-
charged is an asset and the necessary conditions
are met con cerning the terms on which the dis-
charge is permit ted, then the payment for the
permit should be treated in the same way as the
payment for a li cense to use the radio spectrum
for mobile phones. If the payment is linked to
remedial action, the payment is a payment for
a service, unless the amount levied is out of
proportion to the costs involved in subsequent
water treatment, in which case the payment
should be treated as other taxes on the use of
goods and on permission to use goods or perform
activities (11452).
Contracts for future production
A4.51 Although human capital is not recognized
as an economic asset, there are cases where a con-
tract that entitles the holder to limit the ability of a
named individual to work for others may be regarded
as an asset. Prolifi c and lucrative contracts may be for
sports players where, for example, one football club
can “sell” a player to another. In fact, the club is not
sell ing the person, but rather the exclusive rights to
have that person working for it. Similar contracts exist
for the rights to publish literary works or musical per-
formances. Such contracts are treated as assets, classi-
fi ed as entitlement to future goods and services on an
exclusive basis (614414) within the asset class of con-
tracts, leases, and licenses.
A4.52 Similar contracts may exist for the produc-
tion of nonfi nancial assets in future. An examination
of the practice of purchasing the options of future air-
craft production revealed, however, that in this case
there is no transferable asset and a change of mind on
the part of the potential purchaser or failure to deliver
on the part of the supplier is settled by a change in
the ar rangements between the two parties and does
not lead to the sale of the option to a third party. If an
instance arises where the option to purchase nonfi -
nancial assets is treated in the same way as a contract
for a named individual’s performance, the same clas-
sifi cation would apply.Leases as Assets
A4.53 As stated in paragraph A4.2, contracts un-
derlie many transactions recorded in macroeconomic
statistics and it is important to understand what the
implications are for the time of recording and classifi -
cation of transactions arising from a contract. Permits
or licenses to use natural resources may constitute an
asset, as may permits to undertake specifi c activities
and contracts for future production.
A4.54 As indicated in paragraphs 7.105–7.106, a con-
tract may be considered an asset when it is trans ferable
to a third party (i.e., a unit other than the two specifi ed
in the original contract)—for exam ple, a mar ketable op-
erating lease acquiring a value as an asset. An example
is given in Box A4.3. Assets re fl ecting such third-party
property rights are always transitory: they exist only for
the length of the lease and where there is a diff erence
between the encumber ed and unencumbered values.
A4.55 Permits to use natural resources and con-
tracts for future production may also give rise to these
types of third-party property rights assets. Similarly,
permits to undertake specifi c activities may give rise
to these types of assets even though the original pay-
ment, if payable to government, was treated as a tax.
Financial leases do not give rise to these types of as-
sets. If the value of the asset being leased increases by
more than the payments due under the fi nancial lease,
the lessee may have the option of selling the asset, re-
paying the loan, and keeping the diff erence.
A4.56 In the case of marketable operating leases,
the lease may be treated as an asset only when the two
following conditions are satisfi ed:- Th e lease specifi es a predetermined price for the
use of an asset that diff ers from the price the asset
could be leased for at the current time. - Th e lessee is able legally and practically to realize
this price diff erence by subcontracting the lease
to a third party.
A4.57 In practice, it is recommended that such as-
sets should be recorded only when the value of the
asset is signifi cant and the lessee can actually exercise
the right to realize the price diff erence.