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The Daily Insight

Can I claim for a lease car as expenses?

Author

Andrew Mclaughlin

Published Mar 27, 2026

You can deduct all your car lease costs (less the lease rental restriction, if applicable) from your company’s tax return. However, the car will count as a benefit-in-kind on your personal tax return.

You can claim back up to 50% of the tax on the monthly payments of your lease, up to 100% of the tax on a maintenance package and, depending on the vehicle’s CO2 emissions, costs of leasing can be deducted from taxable profits if the vehicle is considered a company car.

Can you depreciate a leased vehicle for business?

You can use the either the standard mileage or actual expenses method for a leased vehicle. If you use the actual expenses method, leased vehicles are not depreciated. Instead, the business portion of the lease payment is deducted.

How to deduct lease payments for a car in an S-Corp?

Keep detailed records of car usage. The IRS requires businesses to submit supporting documents, like receipts and lease statements when deducting business-related expenses. Likewise, keeping good records of your vehicle costs helps you accurately deduct your expenses.

Are there any tax deductions for leasing a car?

If you lease a car that you use in your business, you can deduct your car expenses using the standard mileage rate or the actual expense method. If you use the standard mileage rate, you get to deduct 57.5 cents for every business mile you drove in 2020. You may also deduct parking and tolls.

Can a corporation deduct the cost of a car?

Thus, your S-Corp may claim depreciation, fuel expenses, oil expenses, repairs, insurance, and so forth. But what about mileage? When the car is owned in the corporation’s name, it is not allowed to deduct mileage, just the actual expenses incurred for it’s use in business.

Is the lease of a car a business expense?

The business use of your car — owned or leased — is a deductible business expense. Whether a personal or business lease, you get a deduction for hauling supplies from your office to a client …