Cost of Investments :
The cost of an investment includes acquisition charges such as brokerage, fees and duties.
If an investment is acquired, or partly acquired, by the issue of shares or other securities, the acquisition cost is the fair value of the securities issued (which, in appropriate cases, may be indicated by the issue price as determined by statutory authorities). The fair value may not necessarily be equal to the nominal or par value of the securities issued.
If an investment is acquired in exchange, or part exchange, for another asset, the acquisition cost of the investment is determined by reference to the fair value of the asset given up. It may be appropriate to consider the fair value of the investment acquired if it is more clearly evident.
Interest, dividends and rentals receivables in connection with an investment are generally regarded as income, being the return on the investment. However, in some circumstances, such inflows represent a recovery of cost and do not form part of income. For example, when unpaid interest has accrued before the acquisition of an interest-bearing investment and is therefore included in the price paid for the investment, the subsequent mreceipt of interest is allocated between pre-acquisition and post-acquisition periods; the pre – acquisition portion is deducted from cost. When dividends on equity are declared from pre-acquisition profits, a similar treatment may apply. If it is difficult to make such an allocation except on an arbitrary basis, the cost of investment is normally reduced by dividends receivable only if they clearly represent a recovery of a part of the cost.
When right shares offered are subscribed for, the cost of the right shares is added to the carrying amount of the original holding. If rights are not subscribed for but are sold in the market, the sale proceeds are taken to the profit and loss statement. However, where the investments are acquired on cum-right basis and the market value of investments immediately after their becoming ex-right is lower than the cost for which they were acquired, it may be appropriate to apply the sale proceeds of rights to reduce the carrying amount of such investments to the market value.