Is the total payments figure in leasing the interest rate?

No. Total payments (in Polish: suma opłat) is the down payment, all the instalments and the buyout divided by the value of the asset. It takes no account of time or of how much money you actually borrow. The same total of 106% with a 10% down payment and a 1% buyout means 6.21% a year over 24 instalments, 3.17% over 48 instalments and 2.54% over 60 instalments. Totals can only be compared between offers with an identical down payment, term and buyout.

How do you work out the interest rate of a leasing offer?

You need four numbers: the amount financed (net value minus the down payment), the buyout value, the net instalment and the number of instalments. The interest rate is the rate at which the formula for a leasing instalment with a buyout gives exactly the instalment in the offer. It cannot be found with a single rearrangement, so it is found numerically, by successive approximation. For a PLN 150,000 car, a 10% down payment, 48 instalments of PLN 2,405 and a 35% buyout, it comes out at 8.50% a year.

Why can the offer with the lowest instalment be the most expensive?

Because the instalment is lowered with a high buyout, and the unpaid capital earns interest for the whole agreement. In our example the offer with a PLN 2,405 instalment and a 35% buyout has a hidden interest rate of 8.50% and a real cost after tax of PLN 184,649.76. The offer with a PLN 2,975 instalment and a 10% buyout really costs PLN 172,096.55, i.e. PLN 12,553.21 less.

How do additional fees affect the cost of leasing?

A one-off fee works as if you received less financing, and a monthly surcharge as if the instalment were higher. With a PLN 2,975 instalment, a 10% down payment, 48 instalments and a 10% buyout, the interest rate from the instalment alone is 7.20%. A PLN 1,500 upfront fee raises it to 7.74%, and a PLN 120 monthly surcharge to 8.95%, because over 48 months it adds up to PLN 5,760.

Business

How to read a leasing offer: total payments, buyout and the interest rate nobody tells you

Q: What is the cost limit for a leased passenger car from 2026?

From 2026 the limit is PLN 100,000 for cars emitting 50 g CO2/km or more, PLN 150,000 for cars emitting less than 50 g CO2/km (in practice plug-in hybrids) and PLN 225,000 for electric and hydrogen cars. The limit only cuts the capital part of the payments and is compared with the car's value plus non-deductible VAT. A combustion car worth PLN 150,000 net with 50% of the VAT deducted has a value of PLN 167,250 for the purposes of the limit, so 59.79% of the capital part is a tax-deductible cost.

Three offers for the same car worth PLN 150,000 net: instalments of PLN 2,405, PLN 2,975 and PLN 2,921. The lowest instalment hides an interest rate of 8.50% and a real cost PLN 15,010.01 higher than the cheapest offer. We show how to read that from a sheet of paper on which the interest rate does not appear at all.

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

Four dials on one offer

A leasing offer comes down to four numbers: the down payment, the number of instalments, the buyout and the instalment. The first three are set so that the fourth looks good. None of them changes the price of money. Let's check this on a car worth PLN 150,000 net at a constant interest rate of 8.00%:

Variant	Net instalment	Down payment + instalments + buyout
Base: 10% down payment, 48 instalments, 10% buyout	PLN 3,029.55	PLN 175,418.43
20% down payment instead of 10%	PLN 2,663.36	PLN 172,841.13
60 instalments instead of 48	PLN 2,533.17	PLN 181,990.04
35% buyout instead of 10%	PLN 2,364.07	PLN 180,975.17

A higher down payment lowers the instalment by PLN 366.19, but costs PLN 15,000 more on the day you sign. There is PLN 2,577.30 less interest only because you borrow less. The interest rate stays the same.
A longer term lowers the instalment by PLN 496.38 and raises the total by PLN 6,571.61.
A higher buyout lowers the instalment the most, by PLN 665.48, and raises the total by PLN 5,556.74. At the end, PLN 52,500 is waiting for you instead of PLN 15,000.

The conclusion: the instalment tells you nothing about whether an offer is cheap. It only tells you how the other three dials were set.

Total payments is not the interest rate

"Total payments of 106%" (suma opłat) means just this: the down payment, all the instalments and the buyout together come to 106% of the asset's value. It sounds like "6% more expensive", but this number contains no time, and no information about how much money you actually borrow and for how long. Below are eight offers on PLN 150,000, each with total payments of exactly 106%:

Down payment	Number of instalments	Buyout	Net instalment	Annual interest rate
10%	24	1%	PLN 5,937.50	6.21%
10%	36	1%	PLN 3,958.33	4.20%
10%	48	1%	PLN 2,968.75	3.17%
10%	60	1%	PLN 2,375.00	2.54%
0%	48	1%	PLN 3,281.25	2.86%
30%	48	1%	PLN 2,343.75	4.04%
10%	48	20%	PLN 2,375.00	2.66%
10%	48	35%	PLN 1,906.25	2.36%

The same label, yet the interest rate ranges from 2.36% to 6.21%. The rule is simple: the shorter the time and the less you borrow (short term, high down payment), the higher the interest rate hidden behind the same total payments. The longer you hold someone else's money (long term, high buyout), the lower it is.

When you can compare total payments

Only when the offers have an identical down payment, number of instalments and buyout. If they differ in even one parameter, total payments stops being a measure of price. The simplest approach is to ask all the providers for a quote on the same parameters.

The interest rate that is not in the offer

Since the provider does not state it, work it out yourself. A leasing instalment with a buyout follows from the formula:

instalment = [ P - W / (1 + i)ⁿ ] × i / [ 1 - (1 + i)^-n ]

P - the amount to be financed (value minus the down payment),
W - the buyout value, i - the monthly rate, n - the number of instalments.
The offer gives you the instalment, P, W and n. Only i is missing.

This formula cannot be rearranged so that the rate ends up alone on one side. It is found numerically: you plug in a rate, calculate the instalment, compare it with the offer and narrow the range until the instalment matches. The instalment rises with the rate, so there is only one solution. For a 10% down payment, 48 instalments of PLN 2,405 and a 35% buyout, it comes out at 8.50% a year. Our calculator does this for you.

Fees outside the instalment

The instalment is not everything you will pay. Check the offer and the table of fees for:

Arrangement or handling fee - one-off, on signing.
Insurance - a policy from the leasing company's package or a fee for accepting a policy from another insurer, often charged every year.
GAP - insurance covering the difference between the car's value and the compensation paid out.
Registration of the vehicle and handling of documents.
GPS or tracking - installation and a monthly subscription.

A one-off fee works as if you received less financing. A monthly surcharge works like a higher instalment. Example: a 10% down payment, 48 instalments of PLN 2,975, a 10% buyout.

Variant	Interest rate including fees	Real cost after tax
No additional fees	7.20%	PLN 170,741.82
PLN 1,500 upfront fee	7.74%	PLN 172,096.55
PLN 120 monthly surcharge	8.95%	PLN 175,943.96

"Only PLN 120 a month" is PLN 5,760 over 48 months and raises the interest rate by 1.74 percentage points. A small monthly surcharge weighs more than a clearly visible upfront fee.

Three offers for a car worth PLN 150,000 net

A combustion-engine car, 50% of the VAT deducted, 19% tax, a PLN 100,000 cost limit.

Offer A: 10% down payment, 48 instalments, 35% buyout, instalment PLN 2,405.
Offer B: 10% down payment, 48 instalments, 10% buyout, instalment PLN 2,975, upfront fee PLN 1,500.
Offer C: 20% down payment, 36 instalments, 20% buyout, instalment PLN 2,921, monthly surcharge PLN 120.

	Offer A	Offer B	Offer C
Net instalment	PLN 2,405.00	PLN 2,975.00	PLN 2,921.00
Total payments	121.96%	115.20%	110.10%
Hidden interest rate (from the instalment alone)	8.50%	7.20%	6.50%
Interest rate including fees	8.50%	7.74%	8.31%
Buyout at the end	PLN 52,500.00	PLN 15,000.00	PLN 30,000.00
Cash at the start (gross)	PLN 18,450.00	PLN 20,295.00	PLN 36,900.00
Total net, with fees and buyout	PLN 182,940.00	PLN 174,300.00	PLN 169,476.00
Real cost after tax	PLN 184,649.76	PLN 172,096.55	PLN 169,639.75

Lowest instalment, highest cost

Offer A has an instalment PLN 570 lower than B and PLN 516 lower than C. It also has the highest interest rate and a real cost PLN 12,553.21 higher than B and PLN 15,010.01 higher than C. The low instalment comes solely from the PLN 52,500 buyout, on which you pay interest for the full 48 months.

The second lesson is less obvious. Offer C looks best on the instalment alone (6.50%), but the PLN 120 monthly surcharge raises its interest rate to 8.31%, i.e. above B (7.74%). So B gives the cheapest money. Even so, C has the lowest real cost, because you borrow less and for a shorter time: you pay in PLN 30,000 and repay in 36 instalments. The price is PLN 36,900 of cash on the day you sign instead of PLN 20,295. If you do not have that cash, or it works harder in your business, you choose B.

Where the tax difference comes from

From 2026 the cost limit for passenger cars is PLN 100,000 (emissions of 50 g CO2/km or more), PLN 150,000 (below 50 g/km, in practice plug-in hybrids) and PLN 225,000 (electric and hydrogen cars). The limit only cuts the capital part of the payments and is compared with the car's value plus non-deductible VAT. For the purposes of the limit, our car has a value of PLN 167,250, so 59.79% of the capital part is a tax-deductible cost. Interest and additional fees are fully deductible. The tax shield comes to PLN 19,328.34 (A), PLN 22,247.96 (B) and PLN 19,325.99 (C). The real cost assumes that you buy the car out. Details in the guide on the PLN 100,000 limit for company cars.

Fixed or variable rate

Ask what rate the instalment was calculated on. With a fixed rate, the schedule in the offer applies until the end of the agreement. With a variable rate, the instalment in the offer only applies until the first change in the reference rate; after that the leasing company recalculates the remaining instalments. The interest rate you worked out is then a snapshot from the day of the offer, not the price for the whole term. Compare a fixed-rate offer with a variable-rate one carefully: the first includes the price of certainty, the second leaves the risk on your side.

Checklist: what to ask the adviser

What net value of the asset was used in the offer, and does it include the supplier's discount?
Fixed or variable rate? If variable: what does it depend on and how often is the instalment recalculated?
What fees will I pay on signing apart from the down payment?
Is the package insurance compulsory? How much does accepting a policy from another insurer cost, and do I pay it every year?
Are GAP, GPS and registration included in the instalment or charged separately? How much are they?
Is the buyout guaranteed in the agreement, and at what amount?
Can I get a quote on my parameters: the same down payment, number of instalments and buyout as with the competition?

In the table of fees and commissions (a separate document - ask for it before signing), find three items:

Assignment of the agreement - how much it costs to transfer the lease to another company.
Early termination - how the amount payable is calculated and whether the leasing company waives part of the future interest.
Change to the schedule - the fee for an annex, extending the term or changing the size of the instalments.

Do the maths yourself

Calculator

Leasing offer comparison

Enter the instalment, down payment, number of instalments, buyout and additional fees from each offer. The calculator will work out total payments, the hidden interest rate, the interest rate including fees and the real cost after tax. The starting data are the three offers from this article, so you will see the same numbers straight away.

Open the leasing offer comparison

Know the interest rate and looking for the instalment, or want to compare leasing with a loan? Use the leasing calculator.

Read also

Leasing or a loan for a company car - the same car, two ways of financing it, calculated after tax.
The PLN 100,000 limit for company cars from 2026 - how the cost limit cuts the tax shield and what value it is calculated from.
APR or interest rate - the same rule for loans: compare the cost including fees, not the number from the advert.

All the numbers in this article were calculated with the engine that powers our calculators (js/finance.js). Offers A, B and C and the tax assumptions (19% tax, 23% VAT, 50% deduction, a cost limit of PLN 100,000 for a combustion car) are a worked example, not market offers or a tax interpretation. The model covers operating leases and is simplified - among other things, it ignores spreading the initial fee over time and treats additional fees as net amounts that are fully deductible. This text is educational and does not constitute tax or legal advice or an offer within the meaning of Art. 66 §1 of the Polish Civil Code. Before signing an agreement, check the tax treatment with your accountant or tax adviser, because it depends on your form of taxation and how the vehicle is used.