Crédit-bail (leasing)
Calculez le coût total d'un crédit-bail, l'économie d'impôt liée aux loyers et le coût net après impôt.
Data verified · June 2026
Are all lease payments fully deductible for French corporate tax?
Yes. Under CGI Article 39, all crédit-bail lease payments (loyers) are fully deductible business expenses in the fiscal year they are paid, regardless of whether each payment covers an implicit principal repayment or interest component. This is significantly more favourable than a conventional bank loan, where only the interest element qualifies as a deductible expense — the principal repayment does not reduce taxable profit. Note that the residual purchase-option payment, if exercised, is not deductible as a loyer: it is recorded as the acquisition cost of a fixed asset and recovered through depreciation over the asset's remaining useful life.
Source: CGI art. 39 (deductibility of lease payments) ; CGI art. 219 (IS rates and SME qualifying conditions) ; Plan Comptable Général (PCG) — crédit-bail accounting treatment. · updated 2026
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Everything about Crédit-bail (leasing)
📋Overview+
This calculator models the true financing cost of a French finance lease (crédit-bail) for business equipment or commercial property. Enter the asset value, monthly lease payment, lease duration, residual purchase-option price, and corporate tax rate (IS) to obtain three outputs: the total gross cost (cumulative payments plus purchase option), the IS tax saving generated by the full deductibility of lease payments under Article 39 of the French General Tax Code (CGI), and the net after-tax financing cost. Designed for foreign founders, expats, and English-speaking accountants who need to compare crédit-bail against a conventional bank loan or outright cash purchase within a French business structure.
💡 Best practices
- Crédit-bail preserves working capital: no large initial down payment is required, unlike an outright purchase. However, the total cost over the lease term typically exceeds the asset's cash price — use this calculator to quantify the gap.
- Lease payments are 100% tax-deductible (CGI art. 39), unlike loan repayments where only the interest qualifies. For profitable companies subject to the 25% IS rate, this deduction materially reduces the net financing cost.
- If you exercise the purchase option at end of contract, record the asset on your French PCG balance sheet at the residual value (valeur résiduelle) — not the original asset cost — and start depreciating from that date.
📖User guide+
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter the asset value (valeur du bien) and the monthly lease payment (loyer mensuel).
- 2
Set the lease duration in months.
- 3
Enter the residual value (valeur résiduelle) — the contractually fixed price to buy the asset at end of contract.
- 4
Input the corporate tax rate (taux d'IS) applicable to your company — 25% standard, 15% reduced for qualifying SMEs.
- 5
Read the total gross financing cost, the IS tax saving from deductible lease payments, and the net after-tax cost.
📚Glossary+
- Finance lease (Crédit-bail)
- A long-term rental agreement for business equipment or property that includes a purchase option (option d'achat) exercisable at the end of the contract. The lessee uses the asset but does not own it during the lease period.
- Residual value (Valeur résiduelle)
- The contractually fixed price at which the lessee can purchase the leased asset at the end of the term. For equipment leases this is typically 1–6% of the original asset value; for commercial property (crédit-bail immobilier) residuals commonly range from 10–20% or more.
- IS tax saving (Économie d'IS)
- The reduction in French corporate income tax (impôt sur les sociétés) achieved because the full lease payment — not just interest — is deductible under CGI art. 39. The purchase-option payment is not included: it becomes the capitalised cost of the acquired asset and is recovered through depreciation.
ℹ️Sources & updates+
Last data update
June 27, 2026
Sources and references
CGI art. 39 (deductibility of lease payments) ; CGI art. 219 (IS rates and SME qualifying conditions) ; Plan Comptable Général (PCG) — crédit-bail accounting treatment.
The data in this calculator is updated regularly to reflect the latest official rates. When in doubt, consult the official sources listed above.
FAQ — Crédit-bail (leasing)
Are all lease payments fully deductible for French corporate tax?+
Yes. Under CGI Article 39, all crédit-bail lease payments (loyers) are fully deductible business expenses in the fiscal year they are paid, regardless of whether each payment covers an implicit principal repayment or interest component. This is significantly more favourable than a conventional bank loan, where only the interest element qualifies as a deductible expense — the principal repayment does not reduce taxable profit. Note that the residual purchase-option payment, if exercised, is not deductible as a loyer: it is recorded as the acquisition cost of a fixed asset and recovered through depreciation over the asset's remaining useful life.
What corporate tax (IS) rate should I use?+
Since fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2022, the standard IS rate is 25% for all companies. A reduced rate of 15% applies to the first €42,500 of taxable profit for qualifying SMEs with annual revenue below €10 million, share capital fully paid up, and at least 75% held by individual shareholders or by companies that themselves satisfy the PME qualifying criteria under CGI art. 219 I b. Enter your company's actual effective rate for an accurate after-tax result.
Is crédit-bail recorded on the French balance sheet?+
Under French GAAP (Plan Comptable Général, PCG), crédit-bail is an off-balance-sheet commitment: the leased asset does not appear as a fixed asset and the corresponding obligation is not shown as financial debt. This preserves the lessee's debt-to-equity ratios, which matters for bank covenants. Note that IFRS 16 requires on-balance-sheet treatment for leases, but French SMEs applying PCG are not required to adopt IFRS.
What happens if I do not exercise the purchase option?+
You simply return the asset to the lessor at the end of the contract with no further financial obligation. The residual value (valeur résiduelle) is then irrelevant to your cost calculation. If you do exercise the option, you record the asset on your balance sheet at the residual value under PCG rules — not at the original asset cost — and begin depreciating it from that date over its remaining useful life.
Can a foreign founder or non-resident company access crédit-bail in France?+
Yes, provided the company is tax-resident in France or has a French permanent establishment (établissement stable). Full deductibility of lease payments under CGI art. 39 applies to entities subject to French IS. Non-resident entities without a French PE may still sign a crédit-bail contract commercially, but they cannot claim the French IS deduction modelled by this calculator.
How does crédit-bail compare to a conventional bank loan?+
With crédit-bail, 100% of each lease payment is immediately tax-deductible. With a bank loan, only the interest element qualifies; principal repayments are not deductible. Crédit-bail also avoids a large upfront capital outlay and keeps borrowing capacity intact. The trade-off is that the total financial cost over the contract term typically exceeds the cost of an equivalent cash purchase of the same asset.