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This paper deals with small and medium enterprises in relation to the attitudes perceived by business owners in their immediate neighbourhood, society, in relation to banks and the government. The key question is the difference between entrepreneurs who started their businesses voluntarily and those who entered the business out of necessity. The majority of governmental policies, including Czech policies, focus more on the questions of financial support, however the support of entrepreneurs can be broader and may include the efforts to influence perception of an individual and the society so that they have a more positive attitude towards entrepreneurial activities. The attitudes in the Czech Republic are so far rather negative and such a change may be positively reflected in the level of the entrepreneurial activity which strongly affects economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the cost of financing business through debt has reduced income tax paid. Financing via new equity has not. This asymmetry has not been without consequences. The high indebtedness and relative undercapitalisation of corporates creates a risk of reduced resilience to economic shocks. Some countries have introduced tax incentivisation of equity, reduced tax incentivisation of debt, or both. In June 2022, the European Commission proposed a harmonised solution: Debt Equity Bias Reduction Allowance (DEBRA). All EU Member States, including the Czech Republic, should provide corporate income tax deduction for equity, whilst further limiting interest deduction, starting 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]