Impact of lease versus buy decisions on government tax revenues: An in-depth analysis

Abstract

Numerous managerial and corporate finance perspectives suggest mutual tax advantages when depreciation is transferred from an asset's user to a lessor, creating a perceived loss of tax revenue for the government. This study delves deeper into the lease versus buy decision and its ramifications on government tax revenue. It goes beyond tax rate discrepancies, exploring how factors like lessor-lessee borrowing rate differences, asset lifespan, depreciation, and lease payment schedules impact tax revenues, both analytically and numerically. The paper establishes a strong theoretical foundation, emphasizing positive-sum games involving lessees, lessors, and governments in individual deals. Government benefits from leasing vary across asset classes, market structures, depreciation timelines, credit quality, tax credits, and business cycles. The proposal is that the aggregate impact at the federal level could be positive, negative, or neutral across all leasing deals. These insights surpass conventional knowledge, offering valuable perspectives for finance and accounting educators, students, practitioners, and policymakers.