RJ 292 Leases: classification, accounting and disclosure
Vans, a machine, an office floor or land on long lease (erfpacht): under the Dutch rules a lease is only on the balance sheet if you are in substance the owner. RJ 292 determines when that is so.
The short answer
Under RJ 292 a lease is a finance lease if, as lessee, you bear virtually all the risks and rewards of ownership; the asset and the lease liability are then on your balance sheet. Other leases are operating: the instalments go to the result on a straight-line basis, the commitments to the notes. You may also apply IFRS 16, but then in full.
Updated 30 October 2026
Key facts
| Guideline | RJ 292 (amended 2024), in force for financial years from 1 January 2025; unchanged in the 2026 and 2027 editions |
| Micro and small | RJk B11 (amended 2024), financial years from 2025 |
| Law | art. 2:366(2) DCC, art. 2:375(2) DCC, art. 2:381(1) DCC |
| IFRS 16 | Permitted under the RJ, provided applied in full and consistently and disclosed in the notes (RJ 292.101); unchanged after the 2023 evaluation. The RJk does not mention this choice |
Is there a lease in the contract?
A contract contains a lease if, in exchange for payment, during the period of use, you obtain control of the use of an identified asset (RJ 292.105). For that the asset must be identified: if the supplier has a substantive and beneficial right to substitute it at any time, it is not (RJ 292.106a). You must obtain virtually all the benefits from the use and decide yourself how and for what purpose the asset is used (RJ 292.107–108). A separated space in a storage warehouse can be an identified asset; part of the capacity of a shared server room without physical separation usually is not, unless it concerns virtually the whole capacity (RJ 292.106b).
Since financial year 2025 it is expressly stated that RJ 292 applies to every lease agreement, regardless of the legal form, and that with a purchase agreement too you must check whether it is in substance a lease (RJ-Uiting 2024-13). Rent, tenancy, long lease (erfpacht) and hire purchase fall under it if they meet the definition (RJ 292.104). If you pay in one contract for use and for services, such as maintenance and insurance, you split the payments according to their fair value (RJ 292.114).
Finance or operating
What decides is who bears the risks and rewards of ownership: decline in value, obsolescence and residual value versus return and increase in value (RJ 292.117). If you as lessee bear these wholly or almost wholly, it is a finance lease; otherwise operating (RJ 292.118). You look at economic reality, not at the name of the contract (RJ 292.120).
Indications of a finance lease (RJ 292.120–121):
- ownership passes to you at the end, or you have a purchase option far below the expected value that you will almost certainly exercise;
- the term covers the greater part of the economic life; as a rule of thumb 75% or more;
- the present value of the minimum lease payments equals or nearly equals the fair value of the asset; as a rule of thumb 90% or more;
- the asset is so specific that only you can use it without major modifications;
- on early termination you bear the lessor's loss, or the gain or loss on the residual value falls to you.
The percentages are indications, not hard limits. You classify the lease when the contract is entered into; a later change in estimate does not change the classification (RJ 292.123). For land and buildings you look at both separately; land with an unlimited life is usually an operating lease (RJ 292.124).
Accounting by the lessee
- Finance lease. You recognise the asset and the liability at the fair value of the asset or the lower present value of the minimum lease payments, discounted at the interest rate in the contract or, if that cannot be determined, your own incremental borrowing rate. Your own direct costs are added to the asset (RJ 292.201). You split each instalment into interest and repayment, so that interest is a constant percentage of the remaining liability (RJ 292.206). You depreciate the asset over its useful life if you become the owner, otherwise over the shorter of lease term and useful life (RJ 292.207). Offsetting liability and asset is not permitted (RJ 292.204).
- Operating lease. The asset never goes on your balance sheet. You take the lease payments, without the fee for services, as an expense on a straight-line basis over the term, unless another pattern fits better; a discount or incentive from the lessor you also spread over the term (RJ 292.210–211).
- Sale and leaseback. If it leads to a finance lease, you spread the book gain over the lease term. If it leads to an operating lease at fair value, you take the gain or loss at once (RJ 292.402–404).
It is disclosed to which significant financial commitments, not included in the balance sheet, the entity is bound for a number of future years, such as those arising from long-term agreements. It is also disclosed to which contingent assets, contingent liabilities and unrecognised commitments the entity is bound. Commitments towards group companies are disclosed separately. Article 375(3) applies mutatis mutandis.
Case: vans and a packaging machine
Koeriers Noord BV concludes two contracts on 1 January 2026. Contract 1: six vans for 48 months, € 900 per van per month, of which € 150 for maintenance and insurance. The vans go back to the lessor at the end; they last seven years. Contract 2: a packaging machine for five years, € 50.000 per year in arrears, with a purchase option of € 1 at the end. The machine lasts six years and is worth € 215.000; the interest rate in the contract is 6%.
The vans are an operating lease: no transfer of ownership, a term of about 57% of the useful life and a present value well below the value of the vans. The lease costs are € 54.000 per year (6 × € 750 × 12); the € 10.800 for maintenance and insurance Koeriers Noord books as ordinary costs. At the end of 2026 a commitment of € 162.000 remains for 36 months, without the services part.
The machine is a finance lease: the purchase option of € 1 makes ownership virtually certain, and five of the six years is more than 75% of the useful life. The present value of five times € 50.000 at 6% is € 210.618, lower than the fair value of € 215.000, so that is the amount at which machine and liability go on the balance sheet.
| Machine, 2026 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lease liability 1 January | € 210.618 |
| Interest 2026 (6%) | € 12.637 |
| Repayment 2026 (€ 50.000 − € 12.637) | € 37.363 |
| Lease liability 31 December | € 173.255 |
| of which within one year (repayment 2027) | € 39.605 |
| of which between one and five years | € 133.650 |
| Depreciation of machine (€ 210.618 / 6 years) | € 35.103 |
| Charge in the profit and loss account 2026 | € 47.740 |
What Koeriers Noord discloses. As a medium-sized or large BV it gives, for the vans, a maturity analysis of future lease payments: € 54.000 within one year and € 108.000 between one and five years, with a description of the contracts and the lease costs of the year (RJ 292.212). For the machine it discloses the carrying amount, the maturities of the payments and that it is not yet the legal owner (RJ 292.208; art. 2:366(2) DCC). As a small BV it discloses, for the vans, the total of € 162.000 with an average remaining term of three years (RJk B11.113) and, for the machine, the part of the liability with a term of more than one year (RJk B11.112). As a micro entity it accounts for both contracts in the same way, but discloses nothing in notes.
RJ 292 per size class
| Class | Notes on leases |
|---|---|
| Micro | No notes; finance leases are included in the totals of fixed assets and liabilities, with the split into current and non-current for all liabilities together (art. 2:395a(4) DCC) |
| Small (RJk) | Finance lease: the part of the liability with a term of more than one year. Operating lease: the minimum lease payments and the average term (RJk B11.112–113; art. 2:381(1) DCC) |
| Medium-sized | Finance lease: carrying amount per category, maturities within one year, one to five and more than five years, the main terms and contingent payments. Operating lease: the same maturities, the main assets and terms, and the lease costs of the year (RJ 292.208 and 292.212). Exempt from stating that amounts also include services (RJ 292.212 under f) |
| Large | As medium-sized, without that exemption |
What changes per financial year
For financial years from 2025, RJ 292 (amended 2024) applies, with the clarification that every lease agreement falls under it, regardless of the legal form, and that a purchase contract too can contain a lease. The RJk included the same clarification in B11. In 2026 and 2027 RJ 292 has not been changed. In 2023 the RJ evaluated how IFRS 16 works within RJ 292 and decided not to amend the chapter; applying IFRS 16 in full therefore remains a choice (Ten geleide edition 2025; RJ-Uiting 2023-5).
Common mistakes
- Treating a hire purchase or a lease with a purchase option of € 1 as an operating lease.
- Deducting the lease liability of a finance lease from the asset.
- For an operating lease, including the services component in the lease commitment without disclosing it.
- For a finance lease without transfer of ownership, depreciating over the technical life instead of the shorter lease term.
- Applying IFRS 16 only to the cars and not to the building. It is all or nothing.
How it works in Jaarrekening.io
The app asks about lease commitments that are not on the balance sheet. For medium-sized and large entities it asks the amounts within one year, between one and five years and after five years; for small the total with the average remaining term. It also asks how you account for leases: operating, finance, both, or IFRS 16 in full instead of RJ 292. Only those who follow the RJ get that last choice, because the RJk does not have it. Whether a contract is finance or operating, you assess yourself on the basis of the terms.
Sources
- Art. 2:381 DCC: commitments not included in the balance sheet (wetten.overheid.nl)
- Art. 2:375 DCC, paragraph 2: terms of liabilities
- Art. 2:366 DCC, paragraph 2: limited right of use on tangible fixed assets
- RJ-Uiting 2024-13: clarifications of RJ 292 and RJk B11 for financial year 2025 (rjnet.nl)
- RJ-Uiting 2023-5: evaluation of IFRS 16 in RJ 292 (rjnet.nl)
- Ten geleide to the RJ compilation, edition 2025 (rjnet.nl)
Frequently asked questions
Is my car lease an operating or a finance lease?
That follows from the terms, not the name. An ordinary car lease with a term of three or four years, without a purchase option and with the car going back to the lessor, is usually operating. If the car passes to you at the end for a nominal amount, or the lease covers almost the whole useful life, it is usually a finance lease that belongs on the balance sheet (RJ 292.120).
Must I put an operating lease on the balance sheet?
No, not under RJ 292. An operating lease never goes on the lessee's balance sheet; the instalments are charged to the result on a straight-line basis and you disclose the future commitments in the notes (RJ 292.210–211). Only if you choose to apply IFRS 16 in full do you also put these leases on the balance sheet as a right-of-use asset and lease liability.
What does a small BV disclose about leases?
For an operating lease, the minimum lease payments and the average remaining term of that commitment (RJk B11.113). For a finance lease, the part of the lease liability with a remaining term of more than one year (RJk B11.112). A micro entity gives no notes and therefore does not disclose this either.
May I apply IFRS 16 in annual accounts under Title 9 and the RJ?
Yes. RJ 292.101 allows you to apply the lease provisions of IFRS 16 instead of RJ 292, provided fully and consistently, and you disclose this in the notes. After an evaluation in 2023 the RJ left that possibility unchanged. The RJk for micro and small does not mention this choice; a small entity that follows the full RJ does have it.
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