The Collectorate of Customs in Pakistan this week unveiled revised plans for its duties on imported PC graphics cards. The decision is intended to combat importers who undervalue GPUs in order to avoid paying taxes and customs. Pakistan will value each GPU purely on its VRAM capacity, as opposed to valuing cards individually.
The Collectorate released a graph ranking the prices (in USD) for VRAM capacities ranging from 4GB to 24GB against which it will apply a 36 percent tax in Pakistani Rupees. For instance, the new system counts on an 8GB GPU costing $196. That comes to Rs. 42,561 at the current currency rate, plus the additional Rs. 15,321.96 from the 36 percent tax.
It can be challenging to distinguish different GPUs unless you regularly monitor test results, it must be said. Card names given by manufacturers are frequently unclear. VRAM may be the simplest quantity to point out as a difference between GPU boxes to a custom official, but it by no means shows how they rank. Some GPUs may be subject to higher taxes under the new scheme than other, more potent goods.
An outdated flagship GPU like the 24GB Titan RTX can be subject to greater taxes in Pakistan than the more potent 3070. A noteworthy example is a midrange RTX 3060, which has 12GB of VRAM and performs the same function as the much more powerful RTX 3080 Ti. The 3070, which is typically ranked above the 3060, only contains 8GB.
To read our blog on “The shortage of GPUs is going to end globally, no need to worry,” click here.
