The official seal has the most uses, but it cannot be used for money-related businesses such as banks. According to Article 16 of the Regulations on the Administration of Registration of Enterprise as a Legal Person in People's Republic of China (PRC): "An enterprise shall be established after the unit applying for business registration of enterprise as a legal person has been approved by the registration authority and obtained the Business License of Enterprise as a Legal Person. An enterprise legal person can engrave the official seal, open a bank account, sign a contract and carry out business activities with the Business License for Enterprise Legal Person. " The words "official seal" appeared here. The actual situation in China is that after obtaining the business license, an enterprise as a legal person can engrave three official seals and put them on record in the industrial and commercial bureau: official seal, special seal for contract and special seal for finance. Generally speaking, these three kinds of official seals are legally effective seals representing corporate behavior. According to the different business scope of enterprises, some enterprises may need to engrave a special seal for customs declaration, which needs to be filed at the customs. The official seal is the most effective of all seals and a symbol of legal person's rights. In the current legislative and judicial practice, it is an important criterion to judge whether a civil activity is established and effective. Unless there are special provisions in the law (such as stamping invoices), the official seal can represent the will of legal persons and sign contracts and other legal documents with high legal effect. All letters, official documents, contracts, letters of introduction, certificates or other company materials issued in the name of the company can use the official seal. Letter of introduction and contract with official seal are legal documents to express the company's intention. In legal practice, the actor who holds the above legal documents will generally be regarded as the agent of the company (that is, the authorized representative). The legal consequences of the civil legal acts carried out by the agent in the name of the company within the scope of agency authority shall be borne by the company. Two. Special Seal for Contract The special seal for contract is used by our company when signing a contract with foreign countries, and can represent our company within the scope of signing, and our company shall bear the rights and obligations arising therefrom; The official seal can replace the special seal for the contract. As for the effectiveness of the contract seal and the official seal, they are actually the same in the use process and judicial practice, and have the same legal effect as contracts and agreements. Article 32 of the Contract Law stipulates that if the parties conclude a contract in the form of a contract, the contract shall be established when both parties sign or seal it. There is no clear boundary between the seal and the official seal of a contract. However, this does not mean that signing the contract with the special seal of the contract takes effect, and signing the contract with the official seal does not take effect. In fact, the company's special seal for contracts and the company's official seal have legal effect when signing contracts on behalf of the company. This can be proved by the provisions of Article 4 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Economic Disputes Cases Suspected of Economic Crimes (adopted at the 974th meeting of the the Supreme People's Court Judicial Committee on April 9 1998). "If an individual borrows a business letter of introduction, a special seal for a contract or a blank contract stamped with an official seal from a unit, signs an economic contract in the name of the lending unit, defrauds the property for personal possession, use, disposal or other criminal activities, thus causing economic losses to the other party, which constitutes a crime, in addition to investigating the criminal responsibility of the borrower according to law, the unit that lends a business letter of introduction, a special seal for a contract or a blank contract stamped with an official seal shall be liable for compensation according to law. However, there is evidence that the victim knows that the other party signing the contract is borrowing money, but still signs the contract with it. " Therefore, the special seal and official seal of a legal person contract are valid when the contract is signed, and the official seal does not affect the validity of the contract. Three. Special seal for finance The purpose of special seal for finance is to handle unit accounting and bank settlement business. It can also be used for invoices before 20 11February1. However, the new "Measures for the Administration of Invoices in People's Republic of China (PRC)" cancels the provision that invoices can be stamped with special financial seals, and makes it clear that invoices can only be stamped with special invoice seals. Four. Special seal for invoices refers to the seal engraved by invoice units and individuals in accordance with the provisions of tax authorities. The seal stamp contains the name of the company, the words special seal for invoice and the tax registration number, and is stamped when purchasing or issuing invoices. V. Company Seal The company seal and the special financial seal are collectively referred to as the seal, and the company seal is commonly known as the private seal. The personal seal of the legal representative is personal, which is generally kept in the hands of the company's finance, and is used to issue checks, withdraw cash from the company's account, buy checks, etc. The seal of an enterprise has certain legal effect to the outside world, and it can sign a contract and produce a power of attorney. Because only legal persons have the qualification of entrustment, the official seal is useless. The intransitive verb human resources chapter is an internal chapter, which is generally not used externally and is used for the internal personnel affairs of the company's human resources department. However, when signing a labor/labor contract, it is the official seal of the enterprise. Of course, if other evidence can be provided to prove the existence of labor relations, the departmental seal is still bound by law. Chapter VII Electronic Signature With the progress of society and the development of network, the Electronic Signature Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) was implemented on April 1 2005. Since then, electronic signatures have the same legal effect as traditional handwritten signatures and seals. "Electronic Signature Law" is an important step to promote the development of e-commerce and eliminate the obstacles to the development of e-commerce in China. However, for the sake of information security, it is generally believed that electronic signature law will greatly promote the rapid development of e-commerce in China. However, in the face of "obstacles" such as online transaction security and related laws, the symbolic significance of the Electronic Signature Law at this stage is greater than the actual significance. Eight, other business seals carved by other enterprises themselves, such as special seals for materials in and out of storage, official seals of enterprises owned by functional departments at all levels and grass-roots units, etc. , mainly used within the enterprise, generally speaking, can not be used outside the enterprise. The seal of these internal chapters only confirms this fact. If the special seal for archives is affixed to the contract, it will not have the legal effect of signing the contract. In addition, what are the procedures for engraving official seal, special seal for contract and special seal for finance, and what certificates do you need to bring? Generally speaking, enterprises need to register with the public security bureau with a copy of tax registration certificate, a copy of business license, legal person ID card and official seal. After the public security bureau issues the certificate, it will engrave the seal at the designated place. Generally, originals and copies are required.