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The Requirements Of Ias 38

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The requirements of IAS 38 in respect of Research and Development expenditure are theoretically dubious and practically unnecessary. All such expenditure should be treated as an expense in the Income Statement and its amount disclosed in notes to the accounts.” International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38 Intangible Assets The current version of IAS 38 (Hereinafter “The Standard”) was adopted in 2001. This standard replaced IAS 9 Research and Development Costs, which was issued in 1993 and preceded the earlier version of Accounting for Research and Development Activities, which was issued in 1978. The Standard deals with intangible assets that are not dealt with by other standards, and defines an intangible asset as “an identifiable non-monetary asset without physical substance” (International Accounting Standard Board, 2001)[IAS 38 para 8]. Fundamental assumptions underlying The Standard with respect to intangible assets are that they are controllable, identifiable, and measurable. While it is easier to determine whether control over intangible asset exists, it is much harder to satisfy identifiability and measurability criteria required to recognize intangible assets, or in other words satisfy the recognition criteria stipulated by The Standard. As a result, The Standard poses a great deal of theoretical challenges and practical issues in terms of application to various situations. In paragraph 5 of The Standard mentions that research and development cost within the scope

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