Lease versus purchase JLB Corporation is attempting to determine whether to lease or purchase research equipment. The firm is in the 21% tax bracket, and its after-tax cost of debt is currently 8%. The terms of the lease and of the purchase are as follows:
Lease: Annual end-of-year lease payments of $25,200 are required over the 3-year life of the lease. All maintenance costs will be paid by the lessor; insurance and other costs will be borne by the lessee. The lessee will exercise its option to purchase the asset for $5,000 at termination of the lease.
Purchase: The equipment which costs $60,000 can be financed completely with a 14% loan that requires annual end-of-year payments of $25,844 for 3 years. The firm in this case will depreciate the equipment under MACRS using a 3-year recovery period. (33% in year 1, 45% in year 2 and 15% in year 3). The firm will pay $1,800 per year for a service contract that covers all maintenance costs; insurance and other costs will be borne by the firm. The firm plans to keep the equipment and use it beyond its 3-year recovery period.
1. Calculate the after-tax cash outflows associated with each alternative.
2. Calculate the present value of each cash outflow stream, using the after-tax cost of debt.
3. Which alternative—lease or purchase—would you recommend? Why?
Percentage by recovery year^a
Recovery year 3 years 5 years 7 years 10 years
1 33% 20% 14% 10%
2 45 32 25 18
3 15 19 18 14
4 7 12 12 12
5 12 9 9
6 5 9 8
7 9 7
8 4 6
9 6
10 6
11 4
Totals 100% 100% 100% 100%