Italy

Checking a retailer established in Italy

Article 2250 of the Italian civil code requires publication of the Partita IVA, the Registro Imprese number, the REA and the share capital. It is the most extensive duty of the five countries, and by far the least observed: roughly three per cent of the retailers surveyed publish their share capital.

91 retailer profiles in this country

Three per cent compliance, measured across two surveys

Across 61 Italian retailers surveyed in two independent campaigns, two publish their share capital as article 2250 requires. Twenty of twenty-six omit the REA and the Registro Imprese in the first survey, and eight of thirty-five publish them in the second. This says nothing about any individual retailer's diligence, but it does show that the legal duty is not a discriminating signal in Italy, since almost nobody complies.

The check digit, a free and immediate verification

A Partita IVA has eleven digits, the last being a check digit computed with the Luhn algorithm. Anyone can therefore confirm a number is well formed without consulting any register. During the survey this check found one retailer publishing an invalid number, and caught three transcription errors in the survey itself.

A technical trap specific to online shops

On several shops built with a widely used commerce platform, product identifiers are exactly eleven digits long, like a Partita IVA, and some even pass the check digit. An automated extraction based on format alone would therefore have produced false registration numbers. That is why every number kept here sits next to an adjacent P.IVA or Partita IVA label, quoted in the profile.

Each profile cites the note legali as published on the date of collection. Every number kept passes the check digit.

Leather goods

Cuccuini

Footwear

Jewellery and watches

Eyewear

Sport

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