RE: Finally on our way I think2 Apr 2022 14:30
Hi all, it is a glorous day here in sunny Leicestershire and I have been playing cars today. Should have worked prepping for the start of the new tax year but thought, Sun's out, why not . . .
The True Sale discussion has been discussed many times on this BB, and there are valid opinions on both sides of the table. Control of the stock / inventory / current asset, call it as you will, is the key defining point. Without access to any terms and conditions and the legal framework behind the SYME model, we are not going to know for sure. I can only assume that there must be a solid legal structure to demonstrate that control has been passed to SYME.
My thoughts are that, if the stocks ( I am refusing to use the word Inventory. I do not use IFRS everyday as I am a Brit that has grown up with the FRSSE accounting standards) have been sold to the Stock Companies, control must have been passed with a number of options:
1. The client company must get permission to move or touch the goods.
2. The client company must pay for the goods if they want to despatch them to their customers. IE buy the stocks back.
3. The stocks are protected by IOT technology, that AZ has mentioned a number of times, such as Cameras / Trackers etc etc.
4. The Stock companies might have to pay rent to a notional rent store stock (Could be a possibility in some instances)
5. The Stock companies take a risk of stock becomes obsolete, out of date or out of fashion.
6. The stock companies may have to hold insurance on the stocks.
I don't think there is enough information in the marketplace to say, it IS a true sale or it IS NOT.
I have seen so many times professional advisors, that are experts in their field, make a judgement call on something that is new and untested in a court of law. Also, lets not forget precedent may well need to be set in multiple jurisdictions. There will be Auditors that will agree and disagree, along the way. Substance over form will also have a hand in it. The contract might say one thing, but what happens in practice might be another.
I am all for change. GM, you are right on this point, the SYME product should be, and I am hopeful that it will be, a revolutionary proposition for many businesses. I hope that it will eventually flow down to SME's.