Why $370bn tech group Palantir pays 1.4 percent tax rate: Report
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- CICTAR's report found Palantir paid no US federal corporate income tax in 2025 and just $2.5m in state taxes, marking the third consecutive year of zero federal income tax and a global effective rate of 1.4% on $1.66bn in pretax profits.
- Palantir has accumulated more than $3.5bn in deferred tax assets from prior losses, R&D credits and employee share deductions, which CICTAR estimates could shield its next $16.5bn in profits from US federal income tax for years.
- Palantir's UK subsidiary recorded a corporation tax charge of roughly £2m ($2.7m) in 2024 despite holding more than £670m ($901m) in UK government contracts, including a £330m NHS Federated Data Platform deal and a £240m Ministry of Defence contract awarded without competitive tender.
- CICTAR's analysis of Palantir's transfer pricing found 96% of its 2025 pretax profits booked in the US parent, while 26% of revenue came from outside the country and only 4% of pretax profit was recorded overseas.
- Palantir's Q2 2025 revenue hit $1.94bn, up 93% year-over-year, with government customers providing more than half of total revenue, per the report.
- CICTAR calculated that at the 21% US federal corporate rate — reduced from 35% in 2017 under Trump's first-term tax law — Palantir should have owed $348m in 2025 federal taxes but paid zero.
- Palantir's government technology work includes ICE systems used in federal immigration operations in which more than 60 people have died in custody or been shot and killed since Trump returned to office, plus a January 2024 strategic partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defence for data analytics and AI.
Why it matters: Palantir's technology powers ICE enforcement tied to 60-plus deaths and Israel's military in Gaza, yet the company paid zero US federal income tax in 2025 while receiving £670m in UK government contracts on roughly £2m in UK tax. Its $3.5bn in deferred tax assets could keep federal payments at zero for years, meaning the public contracts generating the company's growth are effectively self-funding from a tax base the company barely contributes to.
