17-4 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 research equipment, costing $60,000, can be financed entirely with a 14% loan requiring 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. (See Table 4.2 for the applicable depreciation percentages. 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. a. Calculate the after-tax cash outflows associated with each alternative. b. Calculate the present value of each cash outflow stream, using the after-tax cost of debt. c. Which alternative-lease or purchase-would you recommend? Why? Table 4.2 Rounded Depreciation Percentages by Recovery Year Using MACRS for First Four Property Classes Percentage by recovery year Recovery year 3 years 5 years 7 years 10 years 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 6 10 6 11 4 Totals 100% 100% 100% 100%