No, obviously not. That's what I'm saying. If you spend a year paying rent on an unopened shop while waiting on a permit, then that is properly understood as a

No, obviously not. That's what I'm saying. If you spend a year paying rent on an unopened shop while waiting on a permit, then that is properly understood as a cost of the permit. What did you think I was saying? (I'll just edit the comment to make that clear.)