Many companies have long been using facsimiles. But often the accountants just have no idea what to do with the document that is signed with his help. Does facsimile signatures have legal force at all? Let's take a closer look at all these and other issues.
We deal with terminology
It is worth noting that the concept of “facsimile” is not defined in the legislation. In the laws there is a mention of it, but the designation of this word for some reason has still not been given. According to some reports, in the near future this term will nevertheless be consolidated at the level of legislation. In the meantime, in order to determine its meaning, you need to turn, for example, to a dictionary of foreign terms. So facsimile - what is it? According to the interpretation, this is an exact reproduction of a document, manuscript, signature by printing and photograph.
As for the handwritten signature, the procedure for its facsimile use for civil transactions is described in Art. 160 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to this norm, facsimile reproduction of signatures is possible only in cases provided for by law, by agreement of the parties, or if such a possibility is provided for in other normative acts.
Other legal acts
Among other normative acts that govern the use of facsimiles, one can highlight the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 130. This document approved the instruction, which allows the use of a facsimile copy of the signature of managers, as well as their deputies. However, according to this instruction, only documents that do not entail material liability can be signed in this way. Facsimile is also mentioned in the paperwork instructions for bailiffs. Unfortunately, this document also does not say anything about facsimiles - what it is and when it is applied. But there are provisions in which it is indicated that you can use the facsimile stamp of a manager’s signature on greeting, congratulatory letters, as well as on other documents, in cases where the text should be sent to more than 4 addresses. True, for directive letters such a stamp is prohibited.
Facsimile use in contractual relationships
You can use a copy of the signature on the basis of an agreement between the parties. However, many counterparties fear using facsimiles. He will have legal force only in one case: the parties to the transaction can indicate in the contract that they can use facsimiles in the future. But they cannot sign the agreement with the help of it; financial, judicial and tax authorities are focusing on this.
That is, the agreement itself should only be signed by hand, but in the future, if the parties indicate this in the agreement, they can use facsimiles. Such a stamp cannot be used on the contract, this is confirmed by the Arbitration Procedure Code. This normative act states that documents signed by facsimile may be considered as evidence in the arbitration court, but with the condition that the parties agree to use it in the agreement.
Practical side
Many people know that sometimes there are situations when the director is not in place, and his signature is needed right away. In this case, the use of a facsimile copy of his autograph can be very helpful (but, again, signing financial documents in this way will fail). To significantly save time, many companies think about a service such as facsimile production. Experts recommend making it on automatic equipment so that the print is not greased. In order to order the reproduction of your signature, you only need to put a beautiful autograph on a piece of paper. All further actions will be performed by employees of the company, who are engaged in their manufacture in just a couple of hours. Such cliches are usually made in the same place as seals and stamps.
Controversial position
Many tax and financial authorities support the same position: it is unacceptable to use facsimiles on payment documents for signing letters of attorney, as well as for approving other documents of a financial nature. With the help of cliché-signatures, no contracts can also be sighted. At the same time, such authorities did not specify the list of documents that could have financial consequences.
In judicial practice, it is said in two ways about printing facsimiles. There is a controversial point about the use of a copy of an autograph. On the one hand, the arbitration courts allow the use of facsimiles after signing the contract in person, that is, this actually means that waybills can be signed in this way. However, financial institutions require that the waybill be signed only in person.
Regarding the use of clichés by tax officials, the courts and the Ministry of Finance came to a single conclusion: such persons cannot put facsimiles on documents.
As we have already indicated, in the field of civil law relations (if you do not take into account the precedent for consignment notes), everything is very clear: the use of facsimiles on documents after the conclusion of the agreement is allowed. But regarding the fact that tax employees were forbidden to draw up any documents, there is still a lot of controversy.
Judges Opinion
The courts also emphasize that there are currently no rules that would allow facsimiles to be signed by both taxpayers and tax officials. On this basis, courts also prohibit the use of facsimiles for invoices. At the same time, some still hold the opinion that the deduction of value added taxes, which is submitted 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 acceptable. Despite the assertion of the tax authorities that the use of a copy of the signatures of managers and directors on invoices constitutes a violation of tax law, many servants of Themis have a different opinion. They believe that the Tax Code does not contain a direct ban on the use of facsimiles on invoices.
High Court Verdict
The Supreme Arbitration Court finally resolved the facsimile dispute. The legal force of invoices signed with an impression cliche was recognized by that authority. Thus, the Supreme Arbitration Court found that if the parties previously agreed in the contract or supplementary agreement on the use of facsimiles, then invoices issued in this way will be considered a full-fledged document, and there are no violations in this.
Nevertheless, this authority expressed its clear position regarding the use of facsimiles when filing a tax return. The Court considers that filing a declaration by facsimile could lead to cases of false information. Information may even be provided by inappropriate persons in such a case. But with regard to the use of cliches in the activities of tax authorities, the Supreme Court determined that tax inspectors cannot use it. That is, it is generally pointless for tax officials to make a model of facsimile, since it will not be recognized. Moreover, in the main activity, employees of the tax inspectorate also cannot use a copy of their autograph. Therefore, all documents that will be signed in this way cannot be recognized as legally binding.
Where can I use facsimiles?
Despite the fact that the law does not yet say anything about the designation of the term “facsimile”, that this is in reality, can be ascertained with the help of a dictionary. We also determined the basic rules for its use. Now let's dwell on some financial papers (in addition to invoices), where the law prohibits putting cliches of signatures:
- cash check;
- Payments in foreign currency;
- bill of exchange;
- settlement documents on payments in national currency.
Where can I put facsimiles?
Some regulatory documents also explicitly authorize the use of a copy of the signature of the manager and accountant. So, facsimiles are allowed to use when signing checks intended for the payment of pensions. You can use a facsimile copy when you make an agreement to perform certain actions under the contracts. This rule, of course, applies only to those agreements in which the use of facsimiles was originally provided.
The role of facsimiles from a legal perspective
As you know, the procedure for using facsimiles is rather complicated, and has a lot of nuances. For example, seals and stamps are used in the execution of any contracts and, as a rule, are a mandatory requisite of many financial documents. You can’t say the same about the cliche of the signature of the accountant or manager - after all, fraudsters can take possession of such a signature sample and commit many frauds. To protect officials from such troubles, the legislation strictly regulates the use of facsimiles. What is it and how to use such a cliche, we fully explained in this article. Perhaps in the future, each industry will issue its own instructions on the use of a copy of the signature.
Some tips
If you still use a facsimile signature, it is better to determine the procedure for its use with your local order for the enterprise. Also indicate who can have access to her during your absence. If you sign the contract, make a reservation in advance with the counterparty to use facsimiles after the conclusion of the contract. Indeed, otherwise all further documents may be invalidated. Only full implementation of the agreement can save. Let us also hope that officials will soon write down in more detail the grounds for using facsimiles, because this is the only way to avoid many disagreements and misunderstandings. 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 cliche of a signature is permissible in accordance with the provisions of the main contract.