Is a low or a high lease buyout better?

A higher buyout lowers the instalment, but raises total interest and leaves a large payment at the end. For a car costing PLN 150,000 net, with a 10% down payment, 48 instalments and 7% interest, the net instalment is PLN 3,205.57 with a 1% buyout and PLN 2,281.82 with a 35% buyout. Interest rises from PLN 20,367.54 to PLN 27,027.13, and at the end you have to pay PLN 52,500 net instead of PLN 1,500. Choose a low buyout if you want to keep the car and can afford a higher instalment. A high one makes sense when monthly cash flow is the priority and you have a plan for the final payment.

Can I deduct VAT on the buyout of a leased car?

With a buyout to the company, yes: 50% with mixed use or 100% with exclusively business use, which requires registering the vehicle with the tax office and keeping a mileage log. With a buyout into your private assets, the VAT on the buyout invoice cannot be deducted. In return, a later sale of a car bought out privately is usually not subject to VAT, while selling a company car requires charging VAT on the whole price, even if you only deducted 50%.

Does a car bought out from a lease have to be depreciated?

A car bought out to the company becomes a company asset. If its initial value exceeds PLN 10,000, you enter it in the fixed asset register and depreciate it, as a rule at 20% a year. If the value is up to PLN 10,000, you can expense it in one go. The initial value is the buyout price plus non-deductible VAT, so it usually fits within the limit for passenger cars.

How long must an operating lease agreement for a car last?

The agreement must be concluded for a fixed term of no less than 40% of the standard depreciation period. A passenger car is depreciated over 5 years, so the minimum is 24 months. In addition, the total net payments must be at least equal to the initial value of the asset. Ending the agreement early and buying out ahead of time may change its tax classification, so it is worth discussing this with your accountant beforehand.

Business

Buying out a leased car: low or high buyout, company or private

Q: If I buy out a leased car privately, can I sell it straight away without tax?

No. Since 2022, selling a car that was used in the business under a lease agreement and bought out into your private assets counts as business income if it happens before 6 years have passed. The period runs from the first day of the month following the month of the buyout. You settle the income according to your form of taxation. Confirm with your accountant how costs are determined on such a sale.

A 35% buyout instead of 1% lowers the instalment by PLN 923.75 a month. It costs PLN 6,659.59 of extra interest and PLN 52,500 to pay at the end. And then you still have to decide whose name the buyout invoice goes in - and that decision ties you down for tax purposes for six years.

9 min read · 11 October 2026 · Piotr Litwa, KredytPartner

The buyout is two decisions, not one

You make the first when you sign the agreement: what percentage of the car's value you leave until the end. That determines the instalment, the total interest and how much of the tax-deductible cost goes through the instalments. You make the second a few years later: what to do with the car when the buyout invoice arrives. Buy it out to the company, buy it out privately, spread the buyout over instalments or get rid of the car.

The two decisions are linked. A high buyout with no plan for financing it is the most common reason why the end of a lease hurts more than the whole agreement.

How the size of the buyout changes the instalment and the cost

Assumptions: a combustion passenger car, net value PLN 150,000, down payment 10% (PLN 15,000), 48 instalments, interest 7.00%, operating lease. A business on the flat-rate PIT (19%), VAT deducted at 50%, a cost limit for a combustion car of PLN 100,000. We only change the buyout.

	1% buyout	10% buyout	20% buyout	35% buyout
Net instalment	PLN 3,205.57	PLN 2,961.05	PLN 2,689.36	PLN 2,281.82
Gross instalment (incl. VAT)	PLN 3,942.86	PLN 3,642.09	PLN 3,307.91	PLN 2,806.63
Net buyout	PLN 1,500.00	PLN 15,000.00	PLN 30,000.00	PLN 52,500.00
Gross buyout (incl. VAT)	PLN 1,845.00	PLN 18,450.00	PLN 36,900.00	PLN 64,575.00
Capital repaid in the down payment and instalments	PLN 148,500.00	PLN 135,000.00	PLN 120,000.00	PLN 97,500.00
Total interest	PLN 20,367.54	PLN 22,130.37	PLN 24,089.07	PLN 27,027.13
Tax-deductible cost during the agreement	PLN 121,709.80	PLN 114,675.36	PLN 106,859.32	PLN 95,135.25
Tax shield during the agreement (19%)	PLN 23,124.86	PLN 21,788.32	PLN 20,303.27	PLN 18,075.70
Non-deductible VAT	PLN 19,592.27	PLN 19,794.99	PLN 20,020.24	PLN 20,358.12
Real cost (buyout not counted as a cost)	PLN 166,834.94	PLN 170,137.04	PLN 173,806.05	PLN 179,309.55

Four things stand out straight away:

The instalment falls. Between a 1% and a 35% buyout the difference is PLN 923.75 net a month. Between 1% and 10% - PLN 244.52.
Interest rises. By PLN 6,659.59 between the extreme variants. You repay the capital more slowly, so you pay on a bigger amount for longer.
Less capital goes through the instalments. With a 35% buyout you repay PLN 97,500 in the instalments and down payment, with 1% - PLN 148,500. The instalments and down payment are the deductible cost during the agreement, so the tax shield over those 48 months is PLN 5,049.16 lower.
A large payment awaits you at the end. PLN 64,575 gross with a 35% buyout versus PLN 1,845 with a 1% buyout.

A note on "real cost": the buyout can be a cost too

For simplicity, our engine does not count the buyout as a tax-deductible cost - it only counts what happens until the end of the agreement. If you buy the car out to the company and depreciate it, the buyout price comes back into costs in the following years. With a 35% buyout the initial value (buyout plus the non-deducted half of VAT) is PLN 58,537.50, which gives up to PLN 11,122.13 of extra tax shield spread over the depreciation period. After that adjustment the real cost is PLN 168,187.42 versus PLN 166,517.17 with a 1% buyout - the difference shrinks from PLN 12,474.61 to PLN 1,670.25.

Why so much? Because a car costing PLN 150,000 exceeds the PLN 100,000 limit and the instalments are only about 60% deductible, while a low buyout price usually fits within the limit in full. This is an estimate, not a tax ruling - it applies only to a buyout to the company and needs to be confirmed with your accountant.

What you can do at the end of the agreement

1. Buy it out to the company

The invoice is made out to the company and the car becomes a company asset. Pros: you deduct VAT on the buyout invoice, the buyout price goes into costs through depreciation, and you keep settling running costs as before. Cons: when you sell, you charge VAT on the whole price and settle the income in the business. The simplest option when the car is to keep working in the business.

2. Buy it out privately

The invoice is made out to you as a private individual. Pros: a later sale is usually VAT-free, and the car is outside the company's records. Cons: you do not deduct VAT on the buyout (PLN 12,075 on PLN 52,500 net), and the PIT benefit only appears after six years - more on that below. An option for someone who wants to keep the car for a long time. This applies to sole traders; in a company, a buyout by a partner is a separate transaction to discuss with an adviser.

3. Refinance the buyout

You spread the buyout over further instalments - with a new lease agreement or a loan. Pro: you do not take cash out of the business. Con: you pay interest a second time, this time on the buyout. Example for PLN 52,500 at 7% interest: 24 instalments of PLN 2,350.56 (interest PLN 3,913.45) or 36 instalments of PLN 1,621.05 (interest PLN 5,857.71). The 24-month refinancing instalment is higher than the original lease instalment (PLN 2,281.82) - the low instalment from the start of the agreement has just come to an end.

4. Return it or sell it on (assignment)

Returning the car depends on the agreement - not every agreement allows it, and on return the mileage and condition count. Assignment means transferring the agreement to another business with the lessor's consent, usually for a fee. Pro: you do not need money for the buyout. Con: after several years of paying you are left without a car, and the terms are dictated by the agreement and the other party.

A high buyout needs a plan from day one

If you choose a 20-35% buyout, answer for yourself when you sign where you will get that amount from. "We'll see in four years" ends in refinancing on terms you do not know today, or in selling the car under deadline pressure.

Tax consequences of the buyout

Buyout to the company: VAT, fixed asset, limit

VAT on the buyout invoice is deducted at 50% with mixed use or at 100% with exclusively business use (registering the vehicle with the tax office and keeping a mileage log).
The initial value is the buyout price plus the VAT you did not deduct. If it does not exceed PLN 10,000, you can expense it in one go. Above that, you enter the car in the fixed asset register and depreciate it, as a rule at 20% a year. According to available commentaries, the individual accelerated rate for used cars is not available for a car you used yourself under the lease.
The limit for passenger cars. For cars entered in the register from 1 January 2026, the limit is PLN 100,000 (CO2 emissions of 50 g/km or more), PLN 150,000 (below 50 g/km) and PLN 225,000 (electric and hydrogen). The limit applies to the initial value, and with a buyout that is the buyout price, not the price of a new car. That is why depreciation of a bought-out car is usually fully deductible.

Private buyout: the six-year rule

Since 2022, selling a car that was used in the business under a lease agreement and bought out into your private assets counts as business income if it happens before 6 years have passed. The period runs from the first day of the month following the month of the buyout. A buyout in October 2026 means the period starts on 1 November 2026, so you can only sell outside the business from November 2032.

You settle the income from a sale before that date according to your form of taxation. What you may then count as costs is not described consistently - agree it with your accountant before you sell. The same six-year rule applies to a car bought out to the company and then withdrawn into your private assets.

The old scheme no longer works

"Buy it out privately, wait six months, sell it tax-free" was the legal position before 2022. Today it means business income and non-deductible VAT on the buyout at the same time. If you plan to sell the car within a few years, a private buyout usually gains you nothing in PIT.

VAT on a later sale

	Buyout to the company	Private buyout
VAT on the buyout invoice	you deduct 50% or 100%	you do not deduct it
VAT on selling the car	charged on the whole price, even if you deducted 50%	usually none - a sale from private assets
PIT on the sale	business income	business income for 6 years, then outside the business

The word "usually" is deliberate here. Tax authorities take different views of situations where a private buyout serves only a quick resale. If that is your plan, ask a tax adviser before you request the invoice.

Conditions of the agreement itself

For a lease to be an operating lease for tax purposes, the agreement must be concluded for a fixed term of no less than 40% of the standard depreciation period - for a passenger car that is 24 months - and the total net payments must be at least equal to the car's initial value. The rules also use the concept of a hypothetical net value: if the buyout price is lower than that, the lessor's income is determined at market value. That is one of the reasons why with short agreements the buyout usually cannot be symbolic, and an early buyout calls for caution.

Checklist: 3-6 months before the agreement ends

Find the buyout amount and date in the agreement and how to submit your instruction. Work out the gross amount, because that is what will leave your account.
Check the car's market value. If it is clearly higher than the buyout, the buyout pays off even if you do not want the car - you can sell it.
Decide how long the car will stay. Less than 6 years - work out the company option. Longer - compare both.
Work out both invoice options with your accountant: VAT on the buyout, depreciation, tax on sale. On your own numbers, not on an example.
Secure financing for the buyout. Cash, a loan or refinancing - gather the terms before the deadline passes.
Ask the lessor about extra fees for the buyout, assignment and return, and whose name it can make the invoice out in.
Plan the formalities after the buyout: re-registering the vehicle, insurance for the new owner, an entry in the fixed asset register.
Do not miss the deadline. Not giving your instruction in time may mean extra fees or losing the right to buy out on the terms in the agreement.

Work it out yourself

Calculator

Leasing calculator

Enter the net value, down payment, term and interest rate, then change only the buyout value. You will see how the instalment, total interest, tax shield and real cost shift - with the limit that applies to your car.

Open the leasing calculator

Have two offers with different buyouts? Put them side by side in the leasing offer comparison.

Read also

Leasing or a loan for a company car - why a lower lease instalment does not mean a lower cost.
The PLN 100,000 company car limit in 2026 - how the new thresholds cut the tax-deductible cost of instalments and depreciation.
How to read a leasing offer - which items besides the instalment and buyout decide the cost.

All the numbers in this article were calculated with the engine that powers our calculators (js/finance.js). The values, rates and tax assumptions (19% tax, 23% VAT, 50% deduction, a PLN 100,000 cost limit for a combustion car, 7% interest) are a worked example, not an offer or a tax ruling. The model is simplified - it does not count the buyout as a tax-deductible cost, and leaves out the initial fee spread over time, insurance and additional fees. The description of the law reflects the legal position as of October 2026 and is general in nature. This text is educational and does not constitute tax or legal advice, nor an offer within the meaning of Art. 66 §1 of the Polish Civil Code. Before you decide on a buyout, check the tax treatment with an accountant or tax adviser, because it depends on your form of taxation, how the vehicle is used and the wording of the agreement.