Leasing offer comparison
You have three offers for the same car on your desk, each with a different down payment, a different buyout and a different instalment. Offers built like that can't be compared by eye - and that is the point of them. Enter the numbers from the offers, and the calculator will reduce them to two common measures: the interest rate hidden in the offer and the real cost after tax.
| Offer A | Offer B | Offer C |
|---|
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The calculator models an operating lease in a simplified way: fixed instalments, a down payment and a buyout. It doesn't know the insurance terms, the mileage limit or fees for early termination - check those in the table of fees and charges for each offer.
How to read a leasing offer
Why offers can't be compared directly
A leasing offer has four dials: the down payment, the number of instalments, the buyout and the instalment. Turning just one is enough to make the instalment look better. A higher buyout, a higher down payment or a longer term - each of these lowers the instalment and none lowers the cost. Two offers that differ on three dials at once can't be compared without doing the maths.
Total of payments: a number that tells you nothing
Lessors like to quote the total of payments, for example 106%. That is the down payment, instalments and buyout divided by the net value. It looks like a 6% interest rate, but it isn't one, because it ignores time:
| Total of payments | Term | Down payment / buyout | Annual interest rate |
|---|
The same total of payments means a different interest rate depending on the term and on how much capital you actually borrow. That is why the calculator reverses the calculation: from the instalment, down payment and buyout it works out the interest rate hidden in the offer.
W - buyout, n - number of instalments
i - the monthly rate we are looking for. The formula can't be inverted algebraically, so the calculator finds it by successive approximation.
Fees that aren't in the instalment
The second line in the results table is the interest rate including fees. An arrangement fee works as if you had borrowed less but were repaying the same amount. A monthly add-on, for example more expensive insurance from the lessor's package, works like a higher instalment. In the starting example, PLN 120 a month in add-ons pushes offer C's rate clearly above what follows from the instalment alone.
Is insurance from the lessor's package mandatory?
If so, get a quote and compare it with the market - enter the difference as
a monthly add-on.
Is the rate fixed or variable? With a variable rate, the instalment
in the offer only applies until the first change in WIBOR (the Polish reference rate).
What is in the table of fees? Assignment, early buyout,
changing the schedule, permission to take the car abroad - each of these items
has a price.
Real cost: after tax and after VAT
The interest rate tells you what the money costs. The real cost tells you how much will flow out of the business. We calculate it the same way as in the leasing calculator: the sum of all net payments, minus the tax shield, plus non-deductible VAT. For passenger cars, the tax shield is capped by the cost limit - from 2026, PLN 100,000 for combustion cars, PLN 150,000 for plug-in hybrids and PLN 225,000 for electric cars. The limit only cuts the repayment of the car's value; interest and fees are deductible in full.
Frequently asked questions
How do you compare two leasing offers?
By two numbers: the interest rate hidden in the offer (including fees) and the real cost after tax. The instalment and the total of payments depend on how the offer is built, so they compare structures, not prices.
What does a 105% total of payments mean?
That the down payment, instalments and buyout together come to 105% of the net value. It is not 5% a year - with 36 instalments, a 10% down payment and a 10% buyout it is about 3.2% a year, with 24 instalments about 4.8%.
Does a lower instalment mean a cheaper lease?
Usually the opposite. A lower instalment comes from a higher buyout or a longer term, and then interest is charged for longer on a higher balance.
What fees should you add on top of the instalment?
Arrangement, registration, insurance and GAP from the package, GPS tracking. Enter one-off fees in the upfront fees field, monthly ones as the add-on.
Already chosen an offer?
Break it down into an instalment schedule and check whether a business loan for the same car doesn't work out better after tax.