EU accession of 10 new countries on May 1, 2004 results also in an enlarged leasing market of more than 100 mio. additional consumers with more than USD 162 bn. of "fresh capital" and an economic growth of 5 % p. a. on average within the next decade. However, tax and accounting framework for cross-border and domestic leasing activities is different for each country. Moreover, this framework is in permanent flux (tax reforms) and there is not much experience with leasing neither on the side of local courts nor on the side of local tax authorities. This triggers the risk of requalification of leasing contracts from operating relationships (off-balance sheet for lessees) to finance leasing relationships (on-balance for lessees) by local authorities and/or local auditors. In those fields, leasing companies of major Austrian banks can help as being financial engineers for leasing in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for several decades. Adolf Poindl analyses and compares the key tax planning parameters, types and definitions of leasing in five of ten EC accession CEE countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary) and gives a positive outlook for leasing activities in ...