A technical team of the International Monetary Fund is expected to arrive in Pakistan next week to engage in discussions over tax and revenue related matters.

The IMF team will reportedly negotiate with officials from the Federal Board of Revenue for a week.

Expanding the tax net is expected to be a key point in the negotiations. Sources said that both sides will finalise measures to bring one million people into the tax net to take the total number of tax payers to six million.

The two sides will also prepare a basic structure for a scheme to tax retailers in the country, a sector that has traditionally resisted attempts at taxation.

The FBR will also discuss amendments in the tax policy with the IMF. The changes that both sides agree upon will be implemented in the upcoming budget.

An IMF delegation had left Pakistan after reaching an agreement over the first review in a stand-by agreement on November 16.

However, the release of the second tranche worth $710 million is still pending the IMF board’s approval.