For companies that require trucks...Buy or lease?

Hello there - If you re assembling a fleet, leases are typically tax deductible as a straight expense. In some instances, costs can be capitalized, but if you are buying, say, 4-5 delivery vans, those leases and the maintenance/upkeep are going to be straight expenses, not depreciation.

The major difference here, is the ability to take accelerated depreciation on the owned assets. That is, however, more or less a short term benefit in the year of acquisition. If you are going to have a banner year in that first year of vehicle ownership, then maybe this is the way to go. It's a balancing act here for accounting purposes; you have to literally do the math and ascertain what works better.

Just as an FYI - I'm a tax lawyer, and not a CPA. The math ought to be run by your accounting team, but I'm happy to assist on helping you develop a legal/business strategy around this. I can be reached at###-###-#### ; --@----.com

my $.02 would be to buy a used truck to start with. In my geography (southeast) they are plentiful and competitively priced, but I can't speak to the northeast market. I would imagine there's less supply. Also, it might make a difference if you're looking at more than one - if you need five trucks, for example, you might be able to leverage that into a deal (that could push the scales towards an advantage to leasing). I think there is a scenario where leasing makes sense, I just don't know what it is - I've never liked the concept. I am aware of my bias here, so I'll be interested to see what others say.