6. Small Entrepeneur (SE) (Piccolo Imprenditore)
6.1. Law

Indeed, the SE:

1) is exempted from bookkeeping (art. 2214, paragraph 3, c.c.);
2) is enrolled in the special section of the BR;
3) in the past he was not subject to bankruptcy and other
insolvency pro-
ceedings; while, today, Bankruptcy Law (see below), does
not refer anymore to
the type of subjects covered, but establishes thresholds
on the assets, revenues
and gross “amount owed” (art. 1 Bankruptcy Law – B.L.) (
Legge Fallimen-
tare ).

6.2. Definition

The SE is defined as follows by art. 2083 c.c.: “Direct
farmers, craftsmen
and small tradesmen are small entrepreneurs. Whoever
carries out an organized
professional activity mainly by his own labour and
the labour of his familiars, is
in any case a small entrepreneur”.

Thus, art. 2083 c.c. identifies three SE
figures:
1. direct farmer (small AE);
2. craftsman, who produces goods (small CE);
3. small tradesman, who provides services
(small CE).
However, the second period of the article
is the most relevant one. In fact,
in order to meet the definition, the
labour of the entrepreneur and of his
famil-
iars must prevail on capital and/or
other people’s labour.
For example, a jeweller cannot be
considered a SE, due to the high amount
of capital invested in his enterprise;
on the contrary, a shoemaker, carrying out
his activity in rented premises, can be
considered such, because his labour pre-
vails on invested capital.
It must be specified that the prevalence
must be understood in a qualitative-
functional way and not just from a mere
quantity-arithmetic point of view. It
shall be determined in relation to the
activities and the objectives pursued, the
work of the entrepreneur and of his family
plays a prominent role in the organi-
zation of the activity and significantly
characterizes the goods/services produced
(e.g. a tailor or a goldsmith who works
others textiles or precious metals).
6.3. Reform of the Bankruptcy Law (BL)
(Legge Fallimentare) and other in-
solvency procedures
Through years, several legislative
amendments have brought further defini-
tions of a SE.The Entrepreneur (or Businessman)

Art. 1 BL in particular, initially contained
an autonomous definition of SE,
which was not subject to bankruptcy.
Later, this definition was repealed and
only the second part of the rule remained
in force, according to which com-
mercial companies are not considered SE
in any case, provided that the SE was
not subject to failure.
With the Legislative Decree no. 5 dated
January 9 th , 2006 (Reform of BL),
as further amended by Legislative Decree
no. 169 of 2007, new parameters
linked to the results of financial
statements have been introduced in order to
define the perimeter of the entrepreneurs
who are subject to failure .
Therefore, such definition is now
independent from the definition of SE as
defined by art. 2083 c.c.
In particular on the basis of the current
art. 1 BL, it is no longer subject to
insolvency procedures the person engaging
in a business activity and having
jointly the following requirements:
 having in the three years prior to the
date of filing for bankruptcy – or
from the beginning of the activity, if
less than three years before – an asset side
not exceeding € 300,000 per annum;
 having in the three years prior to the
date of filing for bankruptcy – or
from the beginning of the activity, if
less than three years before – annual gross
revenues not exceeding € 200,000;
 have a level of debt, also not expired,
not higher than a total of € 500,000.
The Law no. 221 of December 17 th , 2012,
excluded from the procedures in
question also the businesses classified
as “innovative start up”.

6.4. Other definitions

Moreover, in the course of time, new
sectorial legislation intervened to
offer
additional definitions of the craftman’s figure.
In particular, the Law n. 443 of
1985 (the “Framework Law for the Craftsman” –
Legge quadro per l’artigiano) –
subsequently amended and integrated – contains
a definition that does not fo-
cus on the prevalence of the work of the
craftsman over others’ work and on
the capital, but states that, under certain
conditions, even partnerships (PS)
( Società di persone) , cooperatives and
limited liability company (LLC) are con-
sidered “craftman”.
However, the prevailing opinion states that
such definition has weight only
in relation to the benefits that the same
Law of 1985 provides for this category.
Therefore as a consequence a subject defined
as craftsman in accordance with
Law n. 443 of 1985, is not necessarily
considered SE as defined by art. 2083 c.c.
In fact, pursuant to the c.c., the prevalence
of the craftsman’s work and of his
family over the capital and other people’s
work is necessary.