The package group Palantir paid conscionable £2m successful corp taxation successful the UK successful 2024, contempt holding nationalist assemblage contracts worthy hundreds of millions, acknowledgment to taxation breaks that are apt to trim its contributions to governments astir the world for years to come.
The US-headquartered company, which has harnessed AI to unafraid lucrative activity for the NHS and the Ministry of Defence, is increasing exponentially.
Palantir’s shares bounced 17% successful early trading connected Tuesday aft its main executive, Alex Karp, forecast worldwide revenues would almost double this twelvemonth to $8bn (£5.95bn), a consequence that he described arsenic “otherworldly”.
But the magnitude of taxation Palantir pays compared to profits earned – its effective taxation complaint – is conscionable 1.4% globally, according to a study published connected Wednesday by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (Cictar).
In the US past year, the institution paid thing successful national taxes and conscionable complete $2.5m successful authorities taxes, the study states.
Andrea Egan, wide caput astatine the waste and acquisition national Unison, which commissioned the report, said: “Systems that alteration taxation to beryllium shirked connected an business standard intelligibly person to change. The likes of Palantir request to stump up what’s due. Tech giants raking disconnected billions successful profit shouldn’t beryllium free to salary what they please. Ministers shouldn’t grant contracts to tally nationalist services to firms that are starving them of cash.”
The UK is Palantir’s biggest marketplace extracurricular the US, pinch £247m of revenues declared by the institution for 2024, the astir caller twelvemonth covered by the report, while the mostly of its non-US workforce – astir 750 labor – are based successful Britain.
As of 2026, Palantir holds an estimated £670m successful authorities contracts. A three-year, £240m woody pinch the MoD was awarded past December without a competitory tender.
In 2024 the institution paid conscionable £2.1m successful UK corp tax, contempt declaring profits of complete £25m, giving an effective taxation complaint of conscionable complete 8%, researchers found. The UK corp taxation complaint was 25% that twelvemonth and remains astatine that level.
Despite the size of the UK market, taxation collected present was little than successful South Korea, Japan, France aliases Germany.
One reason, according to the researchers, is that Palantir is accounting for its UK revenues successful the US, a believe sometimes referred to arsenic transportation pricing. “A awesome shape emerges of Palantir shifting revenues and profits from contracts successful Europe to the US genitor institution to return advantage of the monolithic taxation shelter it has created there,” they said.
While 26% of each Palantir gross is originated from customers extracurricular the US, only 4% of gross is booked abroad. The logic for this is not clear, but researchers said they believed contracts pinch customers were signed pinch Palantir’s US companies, which successful move paid a work interest to section state subsidiaries to present the work.
For example, Palantir disclosed £159m of revenues successful its UK institution filings for 2024, but disclosed £247m of UK revenues successful its banal marketplace filings.
after newsletter promotion
A spokesperson for Palantir said the institution complied pinch the taxation regimes successful the jurisdictions successful which it operated, and criticising its usage of transportation pricing was “simply not credible”. They said: “Transfer pricing, which allocates a company’s profits among entities wrong the Palantir group of companies, is an wholly modular believe that is virtually cosmopolitan for ample multinational companies.”
They said accounting practices could lead to different filings successful different countries, and it was communal for US genitor companies, arsenic the eventual owners of the products sold, to grounds revenues earned abroad.
Another measurement successful which Palantir cuts its taxation measure is by granting stock options to staff. The institution tin trim what it owes by the magnitude the shares are worthy erstwhile they vest. Employees are liable for income taxation connected their stock options, often astatine higher rates, but the usage of shares alternatively than rate to salary unit shifts the taxation load from the institution to its employees.
A Palantir spokesperson said this was “a wholly modular taxation measurement established nether the erstwhile Labour authorities [in the UK]”, designed to springiness labor a existent liking successful a business. “Crucially, it intends that much taxation is paid because corp taxation is 25%, whereas for these shares, income tax, which is higher, is due.”
In the US, Palantir has stored up billions successful taxation credits from stock options, and losses carried guardant from erstwhile years, meaning that astatine the existent complaint of profit, it would not beryllium liable for US national income taxation payments for “nearly a decade”, the study states.
Like different US companies, Palantir is besides a beneficiary of taxation cuts implemented nether Donald Trump, who reduced the complaint for corporations from 35% to 21% during his first word arsenic president. In his 2nd term, he negotiated a carve-out from an world statement to enforce a minimum taxation complaint of 15% connected ample multinationals.
“While profits are earned successful European markets, overmuch of that income is returned to the US successful the shape of related statement payments,” the study states. “While immoderate level of related statement payments whitethorn beryllium justified, it appears that Palantir’s efforts are intentionally and artificially reducing taxable income and income taxation payments crossed its European operations.”
Palantir said it paid $148m successful UK employment taxes past year, a fig that included employer nationalist security contributions and immoderate income taxation paid connected behalf of staff.
English (US) · 
Indonesian (ID) ·