Buy or lease a taxi? Read the pros and cons here

31 oktober 2021

If you are self-employed as a taxi driver or have just started your taxi company, you naturally want to pick up your customers in a good car: after all, the customer is king. As a taxi driver you can choose to lease a car, but purchasing a suitable car is also an option. You can read the advantages and disadvantages of these two forms below.

Lease

Advantages

Leasing has become incredibly popular in the last few years. There are a number of reasons for this. This makes it a great choice for a starting entrepreneur, because you don't have to pay a lot of money at once to be able to drive around in a representative car. This leaves you with money to invest in other aspects of your company.

Moreover, as an entrepreneur you have a number of tax benefits when you lease on a financial lease basis. For example, you are entitled to interest deduction, VAT refund and you also have to deal with the investment deduction. In addition, the car is economically yours, so you do not have to return the car to the leasing company. When the lease contract has expired, you are also its legal owner. With operational leasing, you must return the car to the company after the contract.

Cons

For some industries it is difficult to lease a car for business use. We look at how risky your profession is. A taxi company is considered risky because there is a greater chance of damage to your car. So you have to go through a slightly stricter process before you can conclude a lease contract. Some leasing companies require you to make a down payment or provide your annual figures. This of course differs per leasing company and fortunately there are plenty of options with most companies.

To buy

Advantages

Many entrepreneurs who have enough budget for a car prefer to buy it. When you buy a car, you immediately become its owner, economically and legally. So you don't have to return the car after two years, for example, which is seen as a major advantage by many entrepreneurs. You can therefore sell the car again at any time. On average, a taxi car only lasts three years. However, with a financial lease you also become the economic owner of the car and after the expiry of the financial lease contract you also become the legal owner.

Cons

If you are going to buy a car as a taxi driver, you have to put a lot of money aside for it. Many starting entrepreneurs in particular do not have sufficient capital to purchase a company car. You also have to pay for maintenance costs, insurance costs and depreciation when you buy a car. In addition, you have no control over these costs yourself: you do not know how much you will spend on average on your car per month.