Leasing or long-term rental in 2026? The 100 000 zł cap changes the maths

Cutting the cost cap to 100 000 zł has moved the break-even point between leasing and long-term rental. We explain why the service part of the instalment is not capped, and when each form comes out better.

For years the answer was: an operating lease, because it is cheap and you can buy the car at the end. Cutting the cost cap to 100 000 zł from January 2026 has moved the break-even point, though — and in some cases long-term rental now comes out better. Not because it is cheaper, but because it is settled differently.

One cap, two forms of financing

Start with what applies to both equally. The new caps — 100 000, 150 000 or 225 000 zł depending on CO2 emissions — cover not only an operating lease but also rental, long-term rental and hire. Escaping the cap by renaming the agreement does not work.

VAT is the same too: 50% on mixed use, or 100% on exclusively business use, with a VAT-26 notification and a mileage log. The real difference lies elsewhere — in what exactly makes up the monthly instalment.

Rental's advantage: the service element sits outside the cap

The cap covers only the part of the payments that repays the value of the car. On an operating lease that is practically the whole capital instalment. In long-term rental the instalment is by design a package: alongside financing the car it includes servicing, tyres and their fitting, assistance, often a replacement car, and insurance.

That service part is not a repayment of the vehicle's value — it is the cost of a service. It is therefore not subject to the proportion the cap imposes, and is deductible in full. The more expensive the car and the larger the package's share of the instalment, the more pronounced this advantage becomes.

There is one condition: the split between the financing and the service part must follow from the agreement and from the invoice. If the lessor invoices a single, undivided amount "for rental", the whole of it falls under the cap.

When leasing still wins

Rental is not universally better. An operating lease keeps advantages that rental simply does not have.

• The buy-out — once the agreement ends the car can stay with the company or move into private ownership, often below market value.
• Freedom — no mileage limit and no settlement for condition on return.
• A lower base instalment, if you handle servicing yourself or have negotiated rates.

For cars worth close to the cap — say up to 100 000–120 000 zł — rental's tax advantage largely disappears, because the proportion stays high anyway. What decides then is the buy-out and flexibility, which means leasing.

When long-term rental comes out better

Rental gains where the cap bites hardest and where running costs are hard to predict.

• Cars clearly more expensive than the cap — the lower the proportion, the more the uncapped service element rescues.
• Fleets replaced on a cycle every three to four years, with no intention to buy out.
• Companies that value one predictable instalment and no residual-value risk.

How to compare honestly

The most common mistake is comparing the net instalment alone. A rental instalment is usually higher because it contains services you will pay for under a lease anyway — just from a different line of the budget. The comparison only means something once both options are reduced to the after-tax cost across the whole term, with or without the buy-out.

At Nalan Trade we set both options out on one sheet: the instalment, the capped and uncapped parts, VAT, servicing, insurance and the residual value. Only a table like that shows which form is genuinely cheaper for a specific car and mileage.

Legal position: July 2026. This article is informational and does not constitute tax advice — it is worth confirming your individual position with an accountant.