Corriere della Sera - L'economia - 10 February 2020
Figures provide a clear picture of the importance of family businesses in the Italian economic-industrial system: 85% of companies are family businesses and they generate 15% of GDP for an overall turnover of Euro 250 billion. But the real issue is another one: 18% of family businesses will undergo a generational handover in the next 5 years and it will be a particularly delicate transition given that only 30% of businesses survive their founders and only 15% of them reach the third generation.
“The succession needs to be planned at least three years in advance - reminds Giuseppe Bernoni, former President of the Italian Board of Chartered Accountants and Chairman of Bernoni Grant Thornton.
The family business agreements are an effective tool to manage such situations and they are exempt from taxation for the first 5 years. A family business agreement can be used to organise all aspects of the handover: to assign the usufruct or legal title of the business to the children, as well as to pay out children who have interests or attitudes other than the family business. In any case, entrepreneurs need to start planning in good time and to withdraw gradually while introducing their children into the business.”
