Enti del terzo settore e attività di impresa Third sector entities and entrepreneurial activities

The so-called third sector has been affected by a recent reform [implemented with Legislative Decrees no. 117 of 3 July 2017 (third sector code) and no. 112 of 3 July 2017 (revision of the regulations on social enterprise)], which, among other things, introduced, on the one hand, the regulatory category of third sector entities and, on the other hand, clarified, with a significant expansion compared to the past, the activities of general interest. Third sector entities may carry out one or more activities of general interest, adopting either “grant making” or “operating” schemes: in the latter case, the initiative will typically be an enterprise. This work is dedicated to third sector entities that operate (in areas of general interest) according to an entrepreneurial scheme (i.e., that sell the goods and services produced, in return for a consideration capable of covering, at least, the production costs). The paper tries to demonstrate, in the first place, that these entities have an incentive to take on the status of social enterprise and, in the second place, that these entities are induced to adopt on the legal form of a company. More specifically, the essay aims at highlighting that the reform of the third sector seems to have legitimized (also by leveraging tax benefits) a distinction between third sector entities according to the nature of their object, reserving to companies the entrepreneurial activities and to non-corporate entities the disbursement activities.