Facsimile - what is it? Seals and stamps. Facsimile - legal force

Many companies have long used facsimiles. But often the accountant simply has no idea what to do with the document that was signed with his help. Does the signature facsimile have legal force in general? Let's take a closer look at all these and other issues.

Understand the terminology

It is worth noting that the concept of "facsimile" is not defined in the legislation. In the laws there is a mention of him, but the designation of this word for some reason is still not given. According to some information, in the near future this term will still get its fixing at the level of legislation. In the meantime, in order to determine its meaning, it is necessary to refer, for example, to the dictionary of foreign terms. So, what is facsimile? According to the interpretation, this is the exact reproduction of a document, a manuscript, a signature with the help of a seal and a photograph.

As for the handwritten signature, the procedure for its facsimile use for committing civil transactions is described in art. 160 Civil Code. According to this rule, facsimile reproduction of signatures can be used only in cases stipulated by law, by agreement of the parties or if such an opportunity is provided for in other regulatory enactments.

Other legal acts

Among other regulations that regulate the use of facsimiles, you can highlight the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 130. This document approved an instruction that allows the use of facsimile copies of managers' signatures, as well as their deputies. However, according to this instruction, in this way only those documents that do not entail material liability can be signed. Mention of the facsimile is also in the instructions for record keeping for bailiffs. In this document, unfortunately, also nothing is said about the facsimile - what it is and when it is applied. But there are provisions in which it is indicated that it is possible to use the facsimile stamp of the head's signature on welcome letters, congratulatory letters, as well as on other documents, in cases where the text should be sent to more than 4 addresses. However, for letters of a directive character, such a stamp is prohibited.

Use of facsimile in contractual relations

You can also use a copy of the signature on the basis of an agreement between the parties. However, many contractors are afraid to use the facsimile. The legal force will only be in one case: the participants in the transaction can specify in the contract that they can subsequently use the facsimile. But the contract with the help of it, they can not sign, this is emphasized by financial, judicial and tax authorities.

That is, the agreement itself must be signed only with one's own hand, but in the future, if the parties specify it in the contract, they can use the facsimile. On the contract such a stamp can not be used, this is also confirmed by the Arbitration Procedural Code. In this normative act it is indicated that as evidence in an arbitration court, documents signed by a facsimile may be considered, but on the condition that the parties agree on its use in the agreement.

The practical side

Many know that sometimes there are situations when the director is not in place, and his signature is needed momentarily. In this case, using a facsimile copy of his autograph can be very helpful (but, again, it will not be possible to sign financial documents). For a significant time saving, many companies think about such a service as facsimile manufacturing. Experts recommend to make it on automatic rigging, so that the impression is not smeared. In order to order the reproduction of your signature, you only need to put on a piece of paper a beautiful autograph. All further actions will be carried out by employees of the company, who are engaged in their manufacture in just a couple of hours. Such clichés are usually manufactured in the same place as seals and stamps.

Controversial positions

Many tax and financial authorities support the same position: it is unacceptable to use facsimiles on payment documents, to sign powers of attorney, and to approve other documents of a financial nature. With the help of a cliche signature, any contracts can not be sighted either. At the same time, such instances did not specify the list of documents that may have financial consequences.

In judicial practice, the seal-facsimile is said in two ways. There is a controversial point about the use of a copy of an autograph. On the one hand, arbitration courts allow the facsimile to be used after signing the contract with one's own hand, that is, it actually means that commodity waybills can be signed in this way. However, financial institutions require that a waybill be signed only in person.

Concerning the use of the cliche signature by tax officials, the courts and the Ministry of Finance came to a single conclusion: such persons can not put facsimiles on documents.

As we have already pointed out, in the sphere of civil-law relations (if one does not take into account the precedent for commodity invoices), everything is extremely clear: the use of facsimiles on documents after the conclusion of an agreement is permitted. But about the fact that to draw up any documents to tax workers banned, there are still a lot of disputes.

Judges' Opinion

Courts also emphasize that there are no rules that would allow the facsimile of an autograph to be placed both for taxpayers and officials of tax inspections, today it does not exist. On this basis, the courts also prohibit the use of facsimiles for invoices. At the same time, some still hold the view that the deduction of value-added taxes, which is provided in the form of an invoice, can still be signed by facsimile.

As practice shows, many courts in their decisions indicate that the use of a facsimile signature is entirely acceptable. Despite the tax authorities' assertion that the use of a copy of the signatures of managers and directors on invoices constitutes a violation of the tax legislation, many of the servants of Themis hold a different opinion. They believe that there is no direct prohibition on the use of facsimiles on invoices in the Tax Code.

Verdict of the High Court

The Supreme Arbitration Court finally resolved the dispute over the facsimile. The legal force of invoices signed with the help of a cliché-impression was recognized by this authority. Thus, the Supreme Arbitration Court found that if the parties have previously agreed in the contract or an additional agreement to use the facsimile, the invoices issued in this way will be considered a full-fledged document, and there are no violations.

Nevertheless, this instance expressed its clear position on the use of facsimiles when filing a tax return. The Court considers that filing a declaration with the facsimile may lead to cases of filing untrue data. Information may even be submitted by inappropriate persons in such a case. But as for the use of cliches in the activities of tax authorities, the Supreme Court determined that employees of tax inspections can not use it. That is, tax specialists make a sample of the facsimile in general is meaningless, since it will not be recognized. And in the main activity, employees of tax inspections also can not use a copy of their autograph. Therefore, all documents that will be signed in this way can not be recognized legally.

Where can not I use the facsimile?

Despite the fact that the law does not yet say anything about the designation of the term "facsimile", what it really is, you can find out with the help of a dictionary. We also defined the basic rules for its use. Now let's dwell on some financial papers (apart from invoices), where the law prohibits putting a cliche of a signature:

- a cash receipt;

- payments in foreign currency;

- bill of exchange;

- settlement documents on payments in national currency.

Where can I put a facsimile?

In some normative documents there is also a direct permission to use a copy of the signature of the manager and the accountant. So, facsimiles are allowed to use when signing checks intended for payment of pensions. You can also use a facsimile copy when signing an agreement to perform certain actions under contracts. This rule, of course, applies only to those agreements in which the facsimile was originally intended.

The role of facsimile from the position of law

As you understand, the procedure for applying a facsimile is rather difficult, and has a lot of nuances. For example, seals and stamps are used in the preparation of any contracts and, as a rule, are mandatory requisites for many financial documents. What can not be said about the cliche signature of the accountant or the head - after all, this type of signature may well be swindled by fraudsters and commit many frauds. To protect officials from such trouble, the law strictly regulates the use of facsimiles. What this is and how to use such a cliche, we fully explained in this article. Perhaps in the future, each industry will issue its own instructions regarding the use of a copy of the signature.

Some tips

If you still use a facsimile signature, it is better to specify the order of its use by its local order on the enterprise. Specify also who can have access to it during your absence. If you sign the agreement, in advance, make a reservation with the counterparty to use the facsimile after the conclusion of the contract. After all, otherwise all further documents can be considered invalid. Only the full implementation of the agreement can save. We will also hope that the officials will soon in more details prescribe the grounds for using the facsimile, because only in this way many disagreements and misunderstandings can be avoided. In the meantime, you can safely put a copy of your autograph on all documents not related to financial matters, and on those papers in which the use of a signature cliché is permissible under the provisions of the main contract.