The consignment note is the primary accounting document that records the commodity relationship between the seller and the buyer when the products are transferred from the first to the last. The details of both parties are included in the invoice. Managers and chief accountants sign the document and affix seals.
The invoice indicates the full characteristics of the goods, cost, quantity, packaging, etc. Filling out the invoice does not require great intelligence, but it does require attentiveness. Incorrectly filled out reporting documents will lead to problems that can lead to fines. So it’s better to prepare reports on time and without errors, and you can also turn to accounting experts.
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Who should prescribe?
Invoices are a document used to formalize and certify the transfer of goods or materials from the seller to the buyer, used by all legal entities. That is, the supplier is responsible for issuing invoices.
The responsible person in the organization (this could be an accountant directly or a sales manager) prints out the technical specification in two copies, collects all the necessary signatures and puts a stamp, which cannot be done without. Then it transfers one of the copies to the client.
What should be in the document and are stamps and signatures required?
When accepting goods and accompanying documents, including TORG-12 invoices, you should make sure that the technical specifications are filled out correctly and contain:
- Signature from the supplier. Theoretically, the technical document should have three signatures: the manager, the chief accountant and the person responsible for sales. In fact, in many organizations, one signature is fixed by internal regulations.
- The name of the shipper, his legal address, telephone number, current account, BIC.
- Completed OKPO and OKPD.
- Number and date of the contract.
- TN number and date of its preparation. Tax authorities like it when the tax return date coincides with the actual shipment.
- The name of the inventory items that are transferred with the invoice, their exact quantity.
- Sum. The TN data must correspond to the data in the invoice for it (what is the difference between the TN and the invoice?).
- Seal.
A separate question is whether it is possible to accept a TN for accounting without a receipt? The unified form TORG-12 for legal entities completely replaces a cash receipt ; as an addition, it is not necessary.
Stamp: how much is in this stamp...
K.V. Lunyakin, Deputy General Director of ZAO Consulting Group Zerkalo
During the reporting period at the tax office, you can often meet an upset accountant whose papers were “wrapped” because there is no company seal on the declaration or calculation. Don't be upset over trifles! The inspector is not always right when he demands that all documents be stamped.
Sign the declarations.
The title pages of the declarations contain the letters “MP”. So there must be a seal here. What about other pages? Often, if the inspector does not find a print on each, he postpones the acceptance of documents to another day. As a result, the company may miss the reporting deadline. And for this she is given a fine under Article 119 of the Tax Code, which amounts to 5–30 percent of the declared tax amount.
If the declaration sheets are not “decorated” with an imprint, does the inspector have the right not to accept the papers? Representatives of the Federal Tax Service explain that everything depends on whether the instructions for filling out this declaration mention the seal as a mandatory detail. When a seal is provided, the inspector has the right not to accept the report; if there is no such requirement, the tax officer will have to take the document. For example, in the VAT declaration form (the form and procedure for filling out were approved by Order of the Ministry of Finance dated December 28, 2005 No. 163n), “MP” is only on the title page, there is no such mark on the rest. Moreover, in the order of filling out the declaration it is indicated that the stamp must be affixed only there. Accordingly, “checking in” on other pages is not necessary.
There are also court decisions indicating that tax inspectors do not have the right to refuse to accept a declaration if there is no stamp on each page. Examples include the decisions of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Ural District of December 9, 2003 No. F09-4165/03-AK and of May 6, 2003 No. F09-1228/03-AK. Each time, the judges noted that such decisions by officials did not comply with Articles 23 and 80 of the Tax Code.
Stamp for power of attorney
Every accountant knows: if, when selling a product, it is received by the financially responsible person of the buyer, then a power of attorney is required. The document is drawn up according to certain forms (M-2 and M-2a). The procedure for filling out was approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of October 30, 1997 No. 71a. It defines that a power of attorney is needed to confirm the right of the representative to receive material assets issued by the supplier under an invoice, contract, order or agreement. The company document must be signed by the director, and a seal on it is required (clause 5 of Article 185 of the Civil Code).
By the way, this position has long been voiced by judges in the resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of August 13, 1996 No. 1792/96. They indicated that since the entry into force of part one of the Civil Code (from January 1, 1995), powers of attorney on behalf of a legal entity must be drawn up in the manner established specifically in the code.
Thus, for a power of attorney to be valid, it must bear the signature of the manager or another person authorized to do so by the constituent documents. Plus, the organization’s seal is required.
Let us pay special attention to the power of attorney that is issued for the right to represent interests. Sometimes companies with branches fill it out incorrectly. Instead of the parent company's seal, they put the division's stamp. Such a power of attorney is invalid. The court made the same conclusion. He admitted that the registrar rightfully refused to open a personal account for the registration of securities to the representative of the organization, since one of the submitted documents was sealed with the seal of the branch (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Volga-Vyatka District dated April 16, 2004 No. A43-10946/2003-25- 340).
Contract out of form
Many tax inspectors believe that a transaction is invalid if there is no stamp on the agreement. In doing so, they refer to Article 162 of the Civil Code. However, it only states that a “simple written form” of the transaction is required, but nothing about seals.
What do the courts think about this? They just occupy the position of firms. An example is the resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated February 26, 2004 No. KA-A40/799-04. It says that “the requirement of the Federal Tax Service to provide copies of agreements with signatures and seals of the parties is not based on the law.”
Companies argue about seals on contracts not only with officials, but also among themselves. So, the tenant company addressed the following issue: the owner of the property, without informing her, submitted documents for state registration of the agreement. The tenant decided that this was illegal, since the lease agreement did not bear his stamp. In this case, the court did not support the company, because any of the parties can apply for state registration (Article 26 of the Law of July 21, 1997 No. 122-FZ “On state registration of rights to real estate and transactions with it”). As for the seal, it is not a necessary requisite of the form of a transaction made in simple written form (Resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated February 15, 2002 No. KG-A40/384-02).
Another example: the former tenant wanted to have the agreement on the transfer of rights and obligations to the new tenant declared invalid. On the grounds that one of the parties did not put a seal on the agreement. The judges were not impressed by this argument. As a result, they stated that “sealing the agreement is not a prerequisite for compliance with the simple written form of the transaction” (resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Moscow District dated March 9, 2004 No. KG-A40/945-04 and dated January 19, 2004 No. KG- A40/10923-03-P). Therefore, if there is no seal on the contract, then this is not a violation.
Refund VAT without stamp
Among the documents confirming the right to a zero VAT rate and tax deduction are bank statements. They indicate that the exporter’s account has received proceeds from a foreign buyer. So, inspectors believe that such statements should have a bank stamp. Otherwise, VAT cannot be refunded.
In such situations, the courts also become supporters of enterprises, which is quite reasonable. There is no such requirement in the Tax Code. In addition, this is not provided for by banking rules. The bank can issue extracts from personal accounts to clients without its stamps and signatures of employees (clause 2.1 of part III of the Central Bank Regulations of December 5, 2002 No. 205-P “On the rules of accounting in credit institutions located on the territory of the Russian Federation”) . All this was taken into account by the Federal Arbitration Court of the Northwestern District in its ruling dated June 11, 2004 No. A56-34443/03.
But tax officials use not only this reason to find fault with exporters’ documents. They refuse to deduct if there is no mark and seal of the bank on the contract, which confirms that the contract has been accepted for settlement services. But again, there is no such requirement in the Tax Code. Therefore, the actions of the inspectors are unlawful (resolutions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated May 31, 2004 No. A56-29111/03 and dated May 17, 2004 No. A56-29782/03).
Printing for primary
The seal is not included in the mandatory details of primary documents (Article 9 of the Law of November 21, 1996 No. 129-FZ). It follows from this that the primary document will be invalid without a seal only if it is provided for by special requirements. For example, the “Consignment note” in the TORG-12 form (approved by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of December 25, 1998 No. 132 - hereinafter referred to as the Resolution) contains the mark “MP” in the consignee’s details section. That is, it provides for the seal of the consignee organization (buyer).
By the way, the instructions for filling out the TORG-12 form set out in the Resolution say nothing about seals. It is only stated what the invoice is intended for and in how many copies it should be compiled. Thus, in general, the consignee's stamp on the consignment note is not provided. But be careful: the form contains the mark “MP”. Therefore, if you have an audit, the tax inspector may refer to Article 252 of the Tax Code, which states that expenses must be confirmed by documents drawn up in accordance with the law. That is, since the unified form contains the requisite “MP”, then the blue stamp must be there. Otherwise, controllers will exclude the amounts indicated in the invoice from expenses.
The Civil Code does not contain any legal norms that would regulate the issues of production, accounting and general rules for the use of seals. However, there is no general rule obliging all companies to have a stamp. This provision is contained in separate legal acts. They also determined the requirements for the seals of a particular organization. So, for example, an LLC must have a round seal, which must contain the full company name of the company in Russian and its location. The law does not impose any other requirements for the seal of an LLC (Article 2 of Law No. 14-FZ of February 8, 1998). Exactly the same requirements are established for the press of joint-stock companies (Article 2 of the Law of December 26, 1995 No. 208-FZ). Please note that when registering legal entities, it is not necessary to submit a sketch of the seal or other information about it to the registration authorities (Law of August 8, 2001 No. 129-FZ).
The company's seal in shape, size and mandatory information must comply only with federal legislation. Why? Civil legislation is the competence of state authorities of the Russian Federation. It is this that contains the rules governing the “print” issue. Requirements of other legal acts cannot be considered legal. Accordingly, local authorities cannot oblige an organization to register a print (sketch) in a special institution or submit information to the register of seals. This can only be done on a voluntary basis (that is, with the consent of the company itself).
In other words, companies have the right not to comply with the requirements of local authorities in this regard. In our opinion, it is enough for a company to issue, for example, an order for the production of a main or additional seal, which stipulates its distinctive features and cases of use.
Currently in Moscow there is no need to register a seal with the State Unitary Enterprise “Moscow Register”, but many companies do this voluntarily. The presence of a registration number on the print once again indicates the integrity of the company and its serious intentions in business.
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Registration procedure
How is the fact of admission recorded?
The movement of invoices should be properly documented, mainly for your own convenience and internal control.
Different organizations have their own rules in this regard, since there are no unified forms.
One can distinguish such forms as:
- Invoice book.
- Invoice journal.
- Register of invoices.
Each organization chooses independently which path to take in this matter: some buy ready-made forms, others create and print them themselves. Accounting books are especially popular in organizations that have strict reporting on any materials.
Any specialized accounting program can create a standard register ; such registers are convenient to use in warehouses; they are filed in folders with documents in the accounting department.
What date should I apply for?
What is the correct date for the receipt of an invoice? The date of unloading or the actual date of receipt of the goods - the dispute on this topic does not subside. But, it would still be correct to carry out the TN upon receipt, that is, the date when the goods arrived and the receiving party signed for it.
Is authentication required and how is it done?
Legally, organizations do not have the obligation to check the authenticity of the primary product. However, in case of verification, some questions may arise regarding the appearance of the documents. And in this case, inspectors, for example, may refuse to accrue VAT deductions on these invoices.
It’s still worth checking the invoices upon arrival . What is especially worth paying attention to:
- Spelling mistakes.
- Differences in font in the same document.
- Mechanical damage to paper.
- Facsimile.
- Different inks on the same document.
- Smearing letters.
- Additions to the seal or signature.
- Different paper in one document.
Additional information On how to check invoices through the EGAIS system, read this material.
Document registration
How to register a trademark and which form to choose for this is at the discretion of each organization. Both accounting books, accounting journals and invoice registers share almost identical content. The forms usually indicate :
- Date of receipt of TN.
- Supplier name.
- Contract number.
- Invoice amount (often separated by columns: total amount, excluding VAT, VAT).
Responsibility for the absence of a waybill
Failure to do so may result in both tax and administrative fines. For transporting cargo without a technical specification, in cases where its registration is mandatory, the driver faces liability in the form of a warning or a fine in the amount of 500 rubles (Part 2, Article 12.3 of the Administrative Code). For accounting and tax accounting purposes, a technical document is a mandatory primary document. It is this document that, by law, confirms the costs of transporting goods under the contract of carriage (Part 1, Article 9 of Law dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, Clause 1 of Article 252 of the Tax Code, letters of the Federal Tax Service dated July 2, 2019 No. SD-4-3 /12855, Ministry of Finance dated October 15, 2018 No. 03-03-06/1/73696 and August 28, 2018 No. 03-03-06/1/61110). Without the technical specification, the buyer of the cargo will not be able to justify delivery costs, since it is this document that confirms the conclusion of the transportation contract. As a result, during the inspection, inspectors will deduct expenses and charge a fine under Article 122 of the Tax Code in the amount of 20 percent of the amount of arrears, as well as penalties for late payment of tax.
But TN confirms transportation costs only if the cost of services is indicated in it. In the absence of this data, the document will only confirm the fact of transportation. Such clarifications were given by the Federal Tax Service in letter No. AS-4-15/15570 dated August 10, 2018. To take expenses into account, in addition to the TN without the cost of services, issue another two-sided primary document, which determines the cost of transportation. According to the Federal Tax Service, such a document may be a UPD. In this case, in addition to the details required for the primary document, enter the data that is needed to confirm the deduction of VAT. The Federal Tax Service explained how to draw up and apply such documents in a letter dated October 21, 2013 No. ММВ-20-3/96. In the contract, you can set out the conditions with which documents the parties formalize the transactions.
