Many people who lease, lease for business. If you are filling out a 1099 form, and are independently contracted, or work per diem, it can be in your favor to lease:
1. General business use. If you use your car in your job or business and you use it only for that purpose, you can deduct its entire cost of operation. You can deduct everything from taxes that is for BUSINESS (not personal) use. Operating expenses could include: gas, maintenance, interest on your car loan, repairs and insurance (which is typically not allowed as a deduction for personal-use cars).
2. Business miles driven. People who use their cars for business-related work can claim 51 cents per mile IIRC (The mileage rate changes virtually every year.)
People who do not use their cars for business but still itemize might be able to deduct mileage for such things as driving they do for charity work or trips they make for medical reasons, such as driving to doctor appointments.
3. Leasing a business vehicle. If people lease their cars for business, the entire lease payment can be deducted from the taxable income. In some cases they can combine this with individual deductions, such as operating costs(gas, repairs, tires, etc). If you drive the car for business: When you lease, a portion of the car's depreciation and financing costs can be deducted on your taxes, roughly 3k, in depreciation, annually.
4. There are other financial incentives for leasing: The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) offers rebates for the purchase or
LEASE of qualified vehicles. The rebates offer up to $2,500 for light-duty zero emission and plug-in hybrid vehicles that the California Air Resources Board (ARB) has approved or certified. Here's a list of vehicles with the rebates available at the click of a button.
http://energycenter.org/clean-vehicle-rebate-project
Don't live in California? there are different offers from different states.
Your state doesn't have credit/rebate? The federal government does.
From IRS website (
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Plug-In-Electric-Vehicle-Credit-(IRC-30-and-IRC-30D) ): "For vehicles acquired after December 31, 2009, the credit is equal to $2,500 plus, for a vehicle which draws propulsion energy from a battery with at least 5 kilowatt hours of capacity, $417, plus an additional $417 for each kilowatt hour of battery capacity in excess of 5 kilowatt hours. The total amount of the credit allowed for a vehicle is limited to $7,500.The vehicles must be acquired for use or
LEASE and not for resale."
Buying versus leasing is situational. The idea that leasing is financially irresponsible as has been stated in this thread has annoyed me. I can list examples of different situations (albeit rare) where you will get cash flow for LEASING.
Even though I have argued devils advocate in this thread; I own my car, and plan to own if it matters.