12 July 2017
Leases vs. Chattel mortgages
Lease | Chattel Mortgage | |
Ownership | Person who grants the lease (lessor) is the owner of the goods | You are the owner of the goods when it is purchased/financed. |
GST | GST is claimed as you make the payments, not up front. | You can claim the full GST component when lodging your next BAS. |
Prepayments | If you are small business you can prepay lease payments to bring forward income tax deductions. | Same as the lease, as long as you are a small business you can pre-pay chattel mortgages, however this is not as effective as leases as given that you already own the asset you will only get the tax benefit of the pre-paid interest and not the pre-paid principle. |
Depreciation | Once the residual payment at the end of the lease is paid, ownership is transferred to you. At this point in time depreciation will be claimed. | As you take control/own the goods from its acquisition, the depreciation is claimed from when you acquire the asset. |