The Commissioner of the VAT Service, Anthony Minlah says contrary to perceptions, about 80 percent of tax payers do so voluntarily. Mr. Minlah was speaking at a Media Dialogue organised by the Ghana Journalists Association which focused on the Impact of VAT on the promotion of SMES. Sponsored by the BUSAC Fund, the project seeks to propel the media to effectively articulate the concerns of small scale business entrepreneurs. The VAT Commissioner acknowledged that the challenges of the SME sector calls for innovative ways to simplify payment procedures adding that businesses serve only as collecting argents and need not be burdened with cumbersome procedures in filling their returns. He however pointed out that the VAT Act 1998 (Act 546) does not discriminate between SMEs and large enterprises saying they all have to meet the same threshold for registration and are subjected to the same penalties for non compliance. The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Ransford Tetteh said SMEs play a crucial role in any developing economy and urged the media to champion the course for removing the bottlenecks in the sector. He said the media should highlight the facilities that are available to the sector saying an expanding SME sector will inure to the benefit of all. The GJA President pledged the Association's preparedness to collaborate with the revenue mobilisation agencies to educate the people on the need to honour their tax obligations.