Leasing out equipment

[x5x3]

hello, I am considering buying a 3D printer through the company and then leasing it to someone (no relation to family etc) who will use it to print 3D parts. However, I have no idea how this works from a tax/VAT etc point of view.

Currently the company is on the flat rate scheme.

So as an example if the printer costs £2K + £400 VAT. Invoice price is over £2K so I can offset this again VAT for the period it is purchased in.

I assume this is then a company asset and would be depreciated over x years at y%? I'm much less clear how much would be a business expense each year though?

Also, say I lease it out at £100 a month, I assume I would have to then put VAT on top of this, so a total of £120 a month in income.

I'm not too worried about the long term profit/loss situation, and these numbers are just examples to make the mathematics easier. I see it as an investment into a new business area which may or may not lead to some kind of joint venture business.

I'm sure there are lost of other things to consider, the contract, the duration, insurance, credit check of individual, etc but for now I'd like to just understand the maths.

thanks in advance.