Operating or Financial Leasing? We calculate the differences in 2025
In 2025, the choice of leasing is not just a matter of convenience, but pure tax mathematics that decides your company's liquidity. When purchasing a production machine for 235,000 PLN gross, the difference in your pocket after the first year can be as much as 14,320 PLN depending on the chosen path. We explain when operating leasing beats financial leasing, and when it's worth paying all the VAT upfront.
Operating leasing as a tax-deductible cost
Since September 2016, when we founded the Carpathian Institute of Finance in Zakopane, we have seen hundreds of contracts where entrepreneurs from Podhale chose this model for peace of mind. In operating leasing, the machine remains the property of the financier, and you receive a monthly invoice for its use. This is the simplest way to regularly reduce income tax.
Each net installment and the initial fee constitute a direct cost for you. This is crucial if your company generates high profits and you are looking for legal ways to keep cash in the business. VAT at 23% is added to each installment separately, so you don't have to lay out a huge sum at the start. (By the way, 74% of our clients in the sawmill industry choose this option to avoid freezing capital).
Operating leasing is a rental with a buyout option. You pay for use, and you deduct taxes on an ongoing basis from every invoice.
Financial leasing and depreciation on your side
Financial leasing works more like an investment loan, even though it is formally still a leasing agreement. Here, the machine goes onto your fixed asset register from day one. Your accounting handles the depreciation write-offs, and only the interest part of the installment is a tax-deductible cost. This solution is chosen by companies that want to have the equipment 'on their side' of the balance sheet.
The biggest challenge in financial leasing is VAT. You have to pay it in full upfront with the first leasing installment. For a machine at 235,000 PLN gross, you need to prepare about 43,943 PLN just for the tax at the start. This model is, however, unbeatable when you buy equipment with an 8% VAT rate or when your company is not a VAT payer.
A specific calculation based on 235,000 PLN
Let's look at the numbers, because they build your business. Let's assume a period of 48 months and an 11% down payment. In operating leasing, your monthly net installment will be about 4,628 PLN. After 4 years, you have the right to buy the machine for a symbolic amount, often 1% of the value. The total payments you put into costs during this time will amount to nearly 222,144 PLN net.
In financial leasing, the installment might be about 115 PLN lower per month, but you lose liquidity because of the need to pay all VAT at the beginning. In 2024, we handled 114 such transactions and in exactly 89 cases, operating leasing proved better for maintaining cash flow. Credit is a tool, not a burden, so choose so as not to block your ability to purchase raw materials.
For a machine at 235,000 PLN, operating leasing allows you to keep nearly 44,000 PLN in cash in the company in the first month.
How to make a decision in 2 hours?
The decision depends on your form of taxation and plans for the future. If you are on a lump-sum tax (ryczałt), financial leasing might be the only sensible option because you don't deduct costs anyway. If, however, you settle on general principles or a flat tax, operating leasing usually wins from the start. At the Carpathian Institute of Finance, we prepare both simulations on one sheet so that the difference is visible immediately.
You don't have to sift through regulations yourself. The average response time to a financing inquiry at our office on Krupówki is 2h 14min. Call us at +48 18 201 20 33, and we will check your leasing capacity without sending a mountain of documents to the bank. Remember: facts matter, not promises, which is why we confirm every offer in writing within one business day.
