Business leasing
The salesperson will show you the instalment. The instalment is the least important number in the whole agreement. What counts is the real cost: what you pay, minus the tax refund from the tax shield, plus the VAT you can't deduct. This calculator works out all three at once - and honestly compares the result with a business loan.
| Leasing | Business loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Net monthly instalment | - | - |
| Total payments (net) | - | - |
| Tax-deductible cost | - | - |
| Tax shield | - | - |
| VAT paid upfront | - | - |
| Non-deductible VAT | - | - |
| Real cost | - | - |
| When the asset is yours | - | from day one |
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A loan also weighs on the company's borrowing capacity more than a lease and usually requires collateral. A lease is quicker to set up, but for the whole term of the agreement the asset is not yours - you can't sell it without the lessor's consent.
| No. | Net | of which interest | of which capital | Gross | Balance after instalment |
|---|
Leasing inside out
Where the instalment comes from
A lease differs from a loan in one way: at the end there is a buyout - an amount you don't repay in instalments. That doesn't mean, however, that you can simply subtract it from the amount financed, because interest runs on the whole outstanding balance for the whole term of the agreement. So the buyout first has to be discounted to today, i.e. you work out what that future payment is worth at the moment the agreement is signed.
W - buyout value
i - monthly rate (annual rate divided by 12)
n - number of instalments
The term W / (1 + i)n is the discounted buyout: PLN 20,000 paid in 4 years is worth about PLN 15,100 today. You only repay the difference in instalments, but interest is charged on the full balance.
This is where the mechanism behind half of all leasing offers comes from: the higher the buyout, the lower the instalment. Because you repay less capital in instalments. But it hasn't disappeared from the bill - you will pay it in one go at the end, and you have been paying interest on it for the whole term.
A 40% buyout instead of 1% can lower the instalment by several hundred zloty, and that is the first number the salesperson will show you. Except that at the end of the agreement you get an invoice for tens of thousands of zloty. The total cost of financing is then higher, not lower - interest was being charged all along on an amount you weren't repaying.
Move the buyout slider in the calculator above and look not at the instalment but at the real cost. It is the only number that doesn't lie.
The tax shield: why comparing instalments makes no sense
This is the thing you don't see in the offer table, yet it decides everything. Lease instalments are tax-deductible costs. Every zloty of cost reduces your tax base, so at a 19% rate it gives you back 19 grosz in tax. At 9% - nine grosz.
Take a machine worth PLN 200,000 net: 10% down payment, 48 instalments, 10% buyout, 7% interest rate, 19% tax.
Over the whole agreement: you will pay PLN 229,507.16 net (down payment + instalments + buyout). The tax-deductible cost is the down payment and all the instalments, i.e. PLN 209,507.16. The tax shield is 19% of that, i.e. PLN 39,806.36, which stays in the business instead of going to the tax office.
The machine cost PLN 200,000, financing added PLN 29,507 in interest, and yet the real expense came out lower than the price of the machine. There is no magic here: the tax office chipped in PLN 39,806 by giving back part of the tax you didn't pay.
That is why the statement "a lease has a lower instalment than a loan" means nothing on its own. What counts is the cost after the tax shield. The business loan from the same simulation has an instalment PLN 531 higher, and after tax the difference shrinks to less than PLN 655 over four years.
Operating or finance
The same agreement goes by two names because they differ in accounting terms, not economically. The choice does, however, change two very tangible things: when you pay VAT and exactly what you put down as costs.
| Operating lease | Finance lease | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose books the asset is on | the lessor's | yours (fixed asset) |
| Who depreciates it | the lessor | you |
| What is a cost | the whole instalment + the down payment | the interest part of the instalment + depreciation |
| When you pay VAT | in instalments, over the whole term | upfront, on the full value, on the day of delivery |
| Invoice | monthly, for a service | one, for the supply of goods |
| Buyout | a separate transaction at the end | the asset becomes yours under the agreement |
| Suits | a business that wants the maximum cost straight away and has no cash for the VAT | a business with cash that wants to depreciate faster (e.g. IT equipment, 30% a year) |
In practice over 90% of agreements in Poland are operating leases - mainly because nobody wants to lay out tens of thousands of zloty in VAT on the day of delivery. For a machine worth PLN 200,000 that is PLN 46,000 in cash that you only get back in your next VAT return.
A finance lease makes sense where depreciation is faster than the term of the agreement: computer equipment (30% a year), some machinery under declining-balance depreciation. Then costs come off faster than you pay the instalments.
The cost limit for passenger cars: PLN 100k, 150k or 225k
This is a trap that almost everyone who leases a passenger car falls into today. The tax-deductible cost is only the part of the repayment of the car's value that fits within the limit. From 1 January 2026 the limit depends on CO2 emissions:
| Powertrain | CO2 emissions | Limit from 2026 | Until the end of 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol, diesel, conventional hybrid | 50 g/km or more | PLN 100,000 | PLN 150,000 |
| Plug-in hybrid | below 50 g/km | PLN 150,000 | PLN 150,000 |
| Electric, hydrogen | none | PLN 225,000 | PLN 225,000 |
Three details that change the calculation more than the threshold itself:
- The limit is applied to the value including non-deductible VAT. If you deduct 50% of VAT, a car worth PLN 100,000 net is worth PLN 111,500 to the tax office - and already exceeds the limit. Only a car costing about PLN 89,700 net fits within it in full.
- The proportion only cuts the capital part of the instalment. The interest part is deductible in full, regardless of the car's price. The lessor shows this split on the invoice - check that your accountant applies it.
- Old agreements too. According to the position of the Polish Ministry of Finance, the new limit also covers instalments paid from 2026 under operating lease and rental agreements concluded earlier. Only cars entered in the fixed asset register before 1 January 2026 keep the old limit.
Below is the same car with three powertrains: 10% down payment, 48 instalments, 10% buyout, 7% interest rate, 19% tax, 50% VAT deduction.
| Net value of the car | Tax shield: combustion | Tax shield: plug-in | Tax shield: electric | Combustion loses vs electric |
|---|
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The practical takeaway: for a combustion car the limit already kicks in at the price of an average new compact car today. Every zloty of the price above the limit is a zloty out of your pocket after tax. Plug-ins and electric cars have a real advantage here - you will find the exact calculation in the guide on the PLN 100,000 limit, and you can compare several offers for the same car in the leasing offer comparison tool.
VAT on a passenger car: 50% or 100%
By default you deduct 50% of VAT from a passenger car lease instalment. The tax office assumes you also drive the car privately - and doesn't ask whether that is true.
You can deduct the full 100% only when the car is used exclusively for business. The price for that is formal, but concrete:
- registering the car with the tax office on the VAT-26 form,
- keeping a vehicle mileage log - every trip, every purpose,
- usage rules that prohibit private journeys,
- a real risk of a dispute with the tax office if the car is parked outside your home in the evenings.
What is this paperwork worth? For a combustion car worth PLN 200,000 (48 instalments, 7%):
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When leasing does NOT make sense
The whole advantage of leasing rests on the tax shield. If the tax shield doesn't work, you are left with just the interest cost - and then leasing is simply an expensive loan.
1. You have no taxable income. A business that is just starting, making a loss or taxed on a lump-sum basis (ryczałt ewidencjonowany, where costs are not deductible) has nothing to deduct the instalments from. The tax shield is zero, and the interest remains in full.
2. The asset loses value faster than you pay the instalments. A high buyout on an asset that after four years is worth less than that buyout means you are paying extra for something nobody will buy back from you at that price.
3. You need the asset for much longer than the term of the agreement. A machine that is meant to work for 15 years, on a 5-year lease, costs you interest on something that will stay with you to the end anyway. A straightforward cash purchase or an investment loan can then be cheaper.
1. The instalment is not the cost. The cost is the instalment minus the tax shield plus
non-deductible VAT.
2. A low instalment with a high buyout shifts
payments in time, it doesn't save money.
3. A passenger car has a cost limit: PLN 100,000 for combustion,
PLN 150,000 for plug-in, PLN 225,000 for electric. Above the limit the tax shield barely grows.
4. Without taxable income, leasing loses its
only real advantage.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an operating lease and a finance lease?
In accounting terms: in an operating lease the asset stays with the lessor, the whole instalment is a cost, and you pay VAT in instalments. In a finance lease the asset becomes part of your fixed assets, interest and depreciation are costs, and you pay VAT on the full value in one go on the day of delivery.
What is the tax shield?
The tax saving that results from instalments being tax-deductible costs. At a 19% rate, an instalment of PLN 3,948 really costs the business PLN 3,198. The rest comes back in the form of lower tax.
What is the cost limit for a passenger car?
From 2026: PLN 100,000 for cars emitting 50 g CO2/km or more (petrol, diesel, conventional hybrids), PLN 150,000 for cars below 50 g/km (plug-in hybrids) and PLN 225,000 for electric and hydrogen cars. Above the limit, only a proportional part of the capital portion of the instalment is a cost; interest remains deductible in full.
How much VAT can I deduct from a passenger car lease instalment?
50% by default. 100% only after filing VAT-26, keeping a mileage log and banning private use of the car.
Do I have to pay the buyout?
In an operating lease it is formally your right, not an obligation - you can return the car. In practice the buyout is usually set below the market value of the asset, so giving it up means handing back something that is worth more than the final payment.
Does leasing affect a company's borrowing capacity?
Yes, though usually less than a loan. Lease liabilities are visible in BIK (Poland's credit bureau) and banks take them into account when calculating capacity - work it out in the borrowing capacity calculator.
Considering a loan instead of a lease?
See what a loan really costs: a full repayment schedule, APR and a comparison of equal and decreasing instalments. And if you already have one - work out how much you would gain by overpaying.