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# Exposing Palantir: Defence Contracts, Stock-Based Compensation, and Tax Avoidance
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/exposing-palantir-defence-contracts-stock-based-compensation-and-tax-avoidance/
- Published: 2026-09-22T11:40:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T11:40:31.000Z
- Description: Despite reporting 55% profit margins and over $1.6 billion in net income, Palantir maintains an effective global tax rate of just 1.4% and pays zero federal income tax in the United States.
- Author: Aman Sethi
- Tags: In Solidarity, Podcast, #podcast, podcasts, Capitalism, United States, Donald Trump, NHS, Palantir, Technology, Surveillance, Tax, Tax avoidance, Peter Thiel

[Listen now](https://pod.link/1790866829?view=apps&sort=popularity&ref=opendemocracy.net)

Governments hand out billions in lucrative contracts to tech corporations to build surveillance systems, track migrants, and process public health data. Yet those same companies use every legal loophole available to avoid paying tax on their profits.

In this episode of *In Solidarity*, openDemocracy editor Aman Sethi and tech reporter Jade-Ruyu Yan sit down with Jason Ward, principal analyst at the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR), to analyze Palantir’s global tax practices.

Palantir supplies technology to US immigration enforcement, the Israeli military, and the UK’s NHS. Despite reporting 55% profit margins and over $1.6 billion in net income, Palantir maintains an effective global tax rate of just 1.4% and pays zero federal income tax in the United States.

### **Chapter Timestamps**

**00:00:00** \- Introduction & What is Palantir?

**00:03:25** \- Palantir in the UK: NHS Contracts & Low Tax Bills

**00:04:37** \- Why Investigate Palantir's Tax Practices?

**00:05:37** \- Peter Thiel, JD Vance, and Silicon Valley Ideology

**00:07:02** \- The 1.4% Effective Tax Rate: How Palantir Dodges Taxes

**00:10:47** \- Explaining the Stock-Based Compensation Loophole

**00:15:15** \- Corporate Taxes, Democracy, and Inequality

**00:18:48** \- Who Works for Palantir? Inside Employee Motivations

**00:20:21** \- The France Exception: Why Worker Power Matters for Tax

**00:23:14** \- Australia’s Tax Transparency Revolution

**00:26:32** \- Debunking Corporate Excuses & Pushing for Reform

**Credits:**

Presented by Aman Sethi

Produced by Harry Beney