Sri Lanka's finance minister Ravi Karuanayake has said that only one – third of the eligible taxpayers in the country are presently under the tax net. <br/><br/>Addressing a group of foreign journalists in Colombo last evening, he said that only 6.5 lakh from an estimated 2 million eligible, are paying taxes in an economy having a work force of around 8.5 million.<br/><br/> His comments came as the country is under pressure from IMF for carrying out tax reforms as part of 1.5 billion US dollars bailout package. IMF has expressed concern over declining tax to GDP ratio in the island nation saying it is below the sub-Sahara region.<br/><br/>The finance minister said that a new act will be introduced shortly to revamp the inland revenue system in the country. The new act envisages decentralization of tax collection system with setting up of 30 branch offices at district level along with simplification of tax structure. <br/><br/>The minister said that a number of bilateral trade agreements are in the offing to enhance trade including economic and technical cooperation agreement (ETCA) with India. He hoped that ETCA will be signed by the end of this year.