u/vee-haff-vays

The Pentagon wants to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to Palantir — with the prospect of more in the coming years — without specifying how the money will be used, according to a draft Defense Department memo obtained by Federal News Network.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg on Aug. 4 instructed the Pentagon’s acquisition boss and comptroller to spend up to $244 million on Palantir’s services until the end of March 2027. The memo also tells the armed forces to find ways to fund the data analytics giant’s work as needed from April 2027 to December 2028.

Palantir nearly doubled its revenue compared to the previous year, thanks in no small part to lucrative public contracts. At the same time, a new analysis reveals that the company is apparently shifting its profits to the US to minimize its tax burden in Europe. Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir, has reason to be enthusiastic: "This quarter was out of this world." Yesterday, Tuesday, the controversial data analytics company made headlines with its immense revenues. Sales rose by 93 percent year-on-year to €1.68 billion.

Worldwide, including in Europe, Palantir concludes contracts with government agencies, intelligence services, the military, and arms manufacturers. However, the US corporation has apparently structured its business operations in such a way that it pays remarkably little tax in both the US and Europe. This is revealed in a new research report authored by the British Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research , which specializes in tax avoidance practices employed by multinational corporations.

Tax losses were tactically engineered

According to the research report, Palantir reported significantly lower profit margins in Europe than in the US. The researchers point to "profit shifting": revenue generated abroad is shifted back to the US, where the company may not have to pay federal income tax for another decade.

That the US is a tax haven for Palantir is partly due to US President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," and partly to the company's tactic of compensating employees with stock options instead of salaries. This is a legal loophole that allows for enormous tax deductions. Furthermore, just in January, European heads of state and government endorsed Trump's demand to exempt US multinational corporations from a global minimum tax. This also benefits Palantir.

The United Kingdom is by far the most affected by Palantir's tax-cutting strategies. However, Germany ranks second among the countries studied. According to the report, a tax shortfall of €1.6 million is expected there. In the year under review, 2024, 65 percent of total revenue in Germany came from service fees paid by the US parent company . This could indicate that the majority of revenue from German contracts is booked in the US, thus significantly underestimating the revenue and profits reported in Germany.

Great role models in tax avoidance

Palantir is by no means the first US technology company to be scrutinized for tax avoidance. Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have already faced legal action, in some cases , regarding how they account for revenues in Europe . However, the tactics that researchers attribute to Palantir are mostly not illegal .

The report concerns smaller sums than in incidents involving other US corporations. Although it ranks among the 50 largest publicly traded companies worldwide, Palantir is significantly smaller than US Big Tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Meta, or Google's parent company, Alphabet. However, its revenues are growing rapidly, and, more importantly, its global influence is expanding, particularly in critical sectors such as the military and intelligence services.

Vigilant in the wrong place?

The researchers behind the report make clear demands: Existing government contracts with Palantir should be reviewed, and future ones avoided. This is a clear warning to the German states whose governments have already signed multi-million-euro contracts with Palantir: Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bavaria.

There, governments have apparently awarded contracts for the operation of public services to a corporation that withholds financial resources from them for state tasks: While German police authorities are using Palantir's software to build surveillance structures, Palantir is apparently focusing on reducing tax obligations.

Let's gooo! 💪 🎉

Andreessen Horowitz deeply involved in Flock as well...

World's biggest corporate welfare queen thinks competitors are "marxist".

 I recently went to get my drivers license renewed. And they would not renew it because my social security card and my ID "did not match". Because one included my married name and one did not. It did not matter that it had been this way for 27 years freaking years without any issue, ever. And then I was also thrown off my health insurance for the same reason. And it happened to another friend. And I could not get it resolved until I got a lawyer and went through an official name change so my birth certificate, SS card and ID all matched. I have not been able to drive while all this is going on.

My husband immigrated here from Ireland over 35 years ago. It was a smooth transition, and of course, because he is white, he has never been asked to show his papers EVER. Until this month when he was thrown off our health insurance because they needed "Proof of his citizenship". Thankfully he had everything filed and could easily lay his hands on his papers, and all they wanted was his naturalization number.

But then a friend of ours who immigrated from Mexico was ALSO thrown off her health insurance for the same reason. But of course, since she was not white, and a woman, they wanted a real ID, her immigration PAPERS, not just her number, and her passport. And then it happened to another friend, and another. One actually helpful person my husband got a hold of at the insurance company told him it was due to Palantir! I have no way of backing up that assertion, but it makes sense.

And I see NOTHING about this, and I do not know the implication it holds for voting in elections or anything else, but I wanted to warn everyone about these issues, and the need to have your papers and your numbers close by because this might happen to you. I believe this is all part of the SAVE act, and they are doing everything they can to make us non voters, and we need to be aware.

*****edited to add.

I know the SAVE act hasn’t passed. My point is these are the back door ways they are trying to implement it ANYWAY.

"We made our name basically on the battlefield, we're very proud of that, have never apologized..."

Imagine bragging about the Gaza genocide, the mind boggles. Palantir delenda est

This guy scammed Joe Lonsdale lol

"No honor among thieves"