According to Federal Law 63-3, the maximum validity period of an electronic signature issued by accredited certification centers is 12 months from the date of registration of the certificate in the state register. This restriction was introduced specifically to conduct an inspection of the digital signature owner’s documents once a year to confirm the relevance of the information available to the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. How can I see the validity period of an EDS certificate, that is, find out the date until which the certificate can be used?
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Validity period of the digital signature
Unlike a regular signature, an electronic signature has a validity period, after which it is simply impossible to use the digital signature. This is due to the following restrictions:
- The software does not allow you to create a signature on a document;
- If the signature can be placed, then the delay in the digital signature will be detected by the recipients. At the same time, he recognizes the electronic signature as invalid and the document as counterfeit.
The period during which the electronic signature is valid is one calendar year. After this, you need to reissue the digital signature certificate. This rule is established by each certification center; it corresponds to international practice. This is necessary for the safety of the signatory himself, as well as other participants in the document flow. In addition, a limited period allows you to make sure that the owner has not lost the certificate and is in his possession (
Where will we receive EP?
Now company managers, employees and ordinary citizens receive signatures from accredited certification centers. But from January 1, 2022, CAs will not be able to issue signatures to legal entities - these powers will transfer to the Certification Center of the Federal Tax Service and its trusted CAs, as well as the Central Bank and the Treasury.
This means that from 2022, heads of commercial enterprises will need to obtain their signatures from the tax office or its trusted CAs, heads of credit institutions from the Central Bank, and heads of government agencies from the Treasury. Employees of enterprises and ordinary citizens will still be able to receive electronic signatures at accredited CAs.
Receive an electronic signature at an accredited CA Kontur
Where can different organizations receive electronic signatures and how to use it in 2022
| Who signs | What is needed to sign a document | Where to get EP |
| Private individual | EP individual (FL) | Accredited CA (AUC) |
| An employee of the organization or an authorized person | EP FL + document of authority | AUC |
| Head of the organization | Electronic signature of a legal entity (LE), in which the head is indicated | Federal Tax Service |
| Automatic signing from the organization | EP legal entity without instructions from the manager | Federal Tax Service |
| Individual entrepreneur (IP) | EP IP | Federal Tax Service |
| Individual entrepreneur | ES FL + power of attorney signed by ES IP | AUTs + Federal Tax Service |
| Notary | ES of a notary | Federal Tax Service |
What needs to be done before renewing the digital signature
It is worth preparing for the procedure for renewing your digital signature in advance; you need to think about it at least a month before the expiration date of the certificate. This is important if reporting via communication channels is required. The system usually warns that a signature renewal is required. A message from the center usually arrives a month before the expiration of the digital signature.
Before proceeding to renew the signature yourself, the owner needs to check the following:
- Whether the EDS keys have expired, whether the key itself has been lost or damaged;
- Do you have a valid license for the program?
- Have the parameters that the digital signature contains changed, for example, the owner’s full name, company name, address, and other information.
Important! If at least one of the specified conditions is not met, independent renewal of the digital signature is impossible. In this case, you will need to contact a certification center, which will advise you on what documents you will need to provide to renew your signature.
How to renew an electronic signature certificate
Renewal of the certificate is carried out by issuing a new one. The certification center generates a new electronic signature based on the user’s application and the received package of documents. This service is also available for a fee. Usually the price of renewal and issuance of a new electronic signature is the same. But the user can save a little if he does not purchase new media, and also if he has a perpetual license for the crypto provider.
When renewing, you can change the scope of application of the electronic signature, for example, the user can increase the number of commercial sites on which it can be used. This will be cheaper than issuing separate electronic signatures for each application. But this may not be the case in all cases. For example, some information systems may have special requirements for electronic signatures.
Extension of digital signature
Extension of the digital signature is made until the end of the validity period of the current electronic signature. The procedure by which the digital signature is reissued is established by law only in general terms. As a rule, the certification center establishes the procedure and norms independently. These rules are also established regarding the deadline for filing an application.
Certification centers oblige clients to apply for an extension of the validity period of their digital signature no later than 20 days before the expiration date. Typically, centers offer several ways to resolve the issue of extending an electronic digital signature. One of them is a personal visit to the center. It is also possible to renew the electronic signature online. The owner of the certificate will need to choose only the method that is more convenient for him (Read also the article ⇒ How to obtain an electronic signature (EDS)?).
Nuances of using electronic signature
Strict requirements for the use of EPC are imposed only by some information systems of government agencies, for example, the government services portal, the system of interdepartmental electronic interaction, and the receipt of reports from the Federal Tax Service and the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.
Other market participants, including trading platforms, set their own requirements. They can use both a qualified signature (according to 63-FZ) and an unqualified signature, which complies with the 1-FZ law. That’s why users’ transition to electronic signatures often raises so many questions.
Online digital signature renewal
In order to independently renew an electronic signature certificate without a personal visit to the center, the owner of the digital signature needs to go to the website of the certification center. After this, you need to enter your “Personal Account”, for which you will need to log in using the method offered on the site. To do this, you will need to enter a login, which may be the name of the institution, the number of the agreement with the center, tax code or other data that will be requested on the site.
After this, the authentication key is entered. To do this, click the “Storage Location” button and use the “Browse” function to find and open it.
After the owner of the digital signature is on the main page of his personal account, he will need to go to the “Services” section. This section contains various possible actions with the digital signature certificate. It is possible to extend or reissue it, block it, or revoke it. In our case, the first one is suitable. After this, you need to fill out an online application and fill out all the necessary information. It must be filled out carefully, excluding possible errors or typos. You will also need to fill in all the proposed fields, otherwise the system simply will not accept the renewal application. After filling, you need to click on “Confirm”. In response, you will receive a notification that the application has been accepted. The application will be assigned a specific number. The submitted application will be considered by employees of the certification center for several days. This usually takes about two to three days. After this period, the owner of the digital signature will receive a notification of the result. The notification will be sent to the email address that the user specified during registration.
Important! The user can track the status of his application using the assigned registration number. This can be done by going to the “. Next you will have to wait a little.
If all the information is filled out correctly and the certificate renewal fee is paid, you will receive a notification about the digital signature renewal, as well as a link to install new certificates. You need to click on the “Save” button and be asked where to specify the storage folder. Next, click “Confirm”. After installation, the “Certificates installed successfully” window will open. An employee will tell you in detail how the digital signature is renewed during a personal visit to the center.
In what cases are planned and unscheduled changes of certificates made?
The key owner can choose planned or unscheduled certificate change scenarios. A planned change is considered to be the case when the token is not lost. All information about the owner, organization or enterprise remains unchanged. In this scenario, the certification authority sends a notification about the need to go through the procedure of updating the expiration date.
The planned replacement path is as follows: Fill out an application for issue → visit a certification center and hand over the document → pay a fee → pick up a new token on the set date.
An unscheduled type of replacement occurs due to loss or damage to the media, compromise of the signature or change of details. For such cases, a special certificate replacement protocol has been developed. The old certificate is revoked, an application is written to issue a new one.
Documents required for renewal of digital signature
In order to extend the validity period of the digital signature, you will need to submit documents to the center, the list of which varies depending on who is the owner of the certificate.
An individual will need to provide:
- passport;
- SNILS;
- TIN.
For legal entities, the list of documents is more extensive:
- statement;
- certificate of registration;
- TIN;
- passport of the owner of the digital signature;
- SNILS of the owner of the digital signature;
- extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities;
- decision on the appointment of a manager.
Individual entrepreneurs will need to prepare:
- statement;
- IP certificate;
- passport;
- SNILS;
- TIN;
- extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs.
Concept and scope of use of digital signature
An electronic digital signature is a unique sequence of characters, a tool whose main purpose is to give an electronic document legal force.
A text signed using an electronic digital signature is equivalent to a paper document certified by an authorized person with a handwritten signature.
This software-cryptological tool guarantees the ability to verify the integrity of documentation and ensures its confidentiality.
Each strong digital signature contains a public and private key. The private key is known only to the owner, the public key is available to all participants in the electronic exchange of information.
Before we talk about how to prepare documents and how to submit reports to the Pension Fund, you should know that the deadline for submitting reporting documents is the 15th day of the second month following the reporting period.The current level of development allows an accountant to create and send FIU reports very quickly, simply by pressing a button in the program installed on the computer. Find out how to submit PFR reports online here.
When the owner signs the documentation, the record contains the following information: the date of signing, information about the person who certified the document, and the file name.
There are many areas of application of digital signatures:
- electronic document management,
- government services,
- provision of reports for regulatory authorities in electronic form,
- participation in procurement and auctions on government and commercial platforms,
- document flow with individuals,
- evidence for the arbitration court.
Benefits of a digital signature
Digital signature is a tool for solving various business problems. The certificate has numerous benefits:
- It is impossible to recreate or fake a unique code, just as it is impossible to copy it.
- Implementation and use in business does not require large expenses.
- To issue an electronic signature for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, you do not need special skills and knowledge.
With the help of a certificate, you can simplify the procedure for registering a business activity, send and promptly receive extracts, documents and certificates.
