Leasing – keep an eye on your liquidity
When leasing a sales trailer, ownership remains with the leasing company throughout the entire contract period. However, you can deduct the monthly leasing payments directly as business expenses, potentially providing you with tax advantages. This may allow you to depreciate the costs more quickly than with a traditional purchase. At the end of the contract, you have to purchase the trailer at a predetermined residual value (typically around 10% of the original price).
Hire purchase – your trailer, your future
With hire purchase, you acquire the sales trailer through a credit financing arrangement, paying off the purchase price in monthly installments. Unlike leasing, you become the owner immediately and can record the trailer as an asset in your balance sheet. Ownership transfers automatically after the final payment, without any additional residual payment. The VAT for the total purchase price is due at the beginning, which is usually not an issue for businesses, as it can be treated as a pass-through item.
Sample calculation
Example food trailer
• Net purchase price: 41.400,00 € plus VAT
Leasing offer A
• Term: 48 months
• Monthly net leasing rate: 703,30 € plus VAT
• Residual value: 12.420,00 € plus VAT
Leasing offer B
• Term: 60 months
• Monthly net leasing rate: 673,34 € plus VAT
• Residual value: 6.210,00 € plus VAT
Hire-purchase offer
• Term: 72 months
• Monthly net hire-purchase instalment: 651,72 €
• The VAT (on the total of all hire-purchase payments) to be refunded with the first hire-purchase instalment amounts to: 8.915,53 €