Article URL: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/05/palantir-corporation-tax-uk-2024-accounting-practices Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180535 Po…

Software group benefits from global systems and accounting practices ‘that enable tax to be shirked’, says union boss The software group Palantir paid just £2m in corporation tax in the UK in 2024, despite holding public sector contracts worth hundreds of millions, thanks to tax breaks that are likely to reduce its contributions to governments around the world for years to come. The US-headquartered company, which has harnessed AI to secure lucrative work for the NHS and the Ministry of Defence, is growing exponentially. Palantir’s shares bounced 17% in early trading on Tuesday after its chief executive, Alex Karp, forecast worldwide revenues would almost double this year to $8bn (£5.95bn), a result that he described as “otherworldly”. But the amount of tax Palantir pays compared to profits earned – its effective tax rate – is just 1.4% globally, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (Cictar). In the US last year, the company paid nothing in federal taxes and just over $2.5m in state taxes, the report states. Andrea Egan, general secretary at the trade union Unison, which commissioned the report, said: “Systems that enable tax to be shirked on an industrial scale clearly have to change. The likes of Palantir need to stump up what’s due. Tech giants raking off billions in profit shouldn’t be free to pay what they please. Ministers shouldn’t award contracts to run public services to firms that are starving them of cash.” The UK is Palantir’s biggest market outside the US, with £247m of revenues declared by the company for 2024, the most recent year covered by the report, while the majority of its non-US workforce – about 750 employees – are based in Britain.