£2M in UK Corporation Tax in 2024 Despite Holding Public Sector Contracts Worth Hundreds of Millions, According to a Report Commissioned

The US-headquartered software group, which works with the NHS and the Ministry of Defence, benefited from tax breaks and accounting practices that its critics say enable tax avoidance. The report by the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (Cictar) found Palantir's global effective tax rate was just 1.4%, with no US federal tax paid last year. In the UK, the company declared profits of over £25m but paid £2.1m in tax, an effective rate of just over 8%, well below the 25% corporation tax rate.

Researchers said Palantir shifted UK revenues to its US parent company through transfer pricing, with only 4% of global revenue booked abroad despite 26% coming from non-US customers. The company also cuts its tax bill by granting share options to staff, shifting the tax burden from the company to employees. Palantir's UK revenues reached £247m in 2024, and it holds an estimated £670m in government contracts as of 2026, including a £240m MoD deal awarded without a competitive tender.

Unison general secretary Andrea Egan 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. A Palantir spokesperson said the company complied with tax regimes in all jurisdictions and called criticism of its transfer pricing "simply not credible, noting the practice is standard for large multinationals.