We have come across many requests for the solution to Compile Error in Hidden module while opening Income Tax Return (ITR) excel file. So we are compiling all at one place for convenience of our readers.
I get the following message when I open the Excel file – Compile error in hidden Module: Module 3. Further input in any of the cell throws out the same dialog box. any specific reasons for it? any suggestion?
When the question was asked at Microsoft Community compile error for Excel 2003 or mail sent to income tax efiling by NARAYANAN MADHAVAN the answer was
Refer to the following article which discusses about the same issue and steps to fix the issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307410
Support at Microsoft says
This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:
- The Microsoft Office Startup folder or the Microsoft Excel Startup folder contains either or both of the following Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in template files:
- Pdfmaker.dot
- Pdfmaker.xla
- Norton AntiVirus software is installed.
And the steps are suggested.
We also found from security-audit ‘s article that
These errors occur if your startup file in Microsoft Word or Excel has become corrupt, this can happen due to malware or a plugin that has corrupted the files:
ComctlLib.exd
MSComctlLib.exd
For windows xp solution suggested is :
If in Windows XP open the following folder and rename the two files above so that they end in .old
C:Documents and SettingsUSERNAMEApplication DataMicrosoftForms where USERNAME is the current user
This did not help our readers.
Solutions that worked
People have found that using Excel 2007 solves the problem so try using the Excel 2007. ( I have Excel 2007 and was able to open files without any error message)
Solution from CaClubIndia Forum seems to work for Office 2003 even Office 2007 is as follows
If you have xp or win7 either office 2003 or office2007 or whatever just install msxml 6.0 service Pack1 for all type of compile errors In ITR excel you can download this utility from the link Microsoft
This is not the first time that people have faced the problem, it was faced last year also as reported by SimpleTaxIndia Frequently faced problems in e-filing of Service tax return. where solution was to use latest Excel.
About Excel and Service Pack
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application developed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It has been a very widely applied spreadsheet for these platforms, especially since version 5 in 1993, and it has replaced Lotus 1-2-3 as the industry standard for spreadsheets. Excel forms part of Microsoft Office. Microsoft (like any other software firm) keeps on releasing new versions of Excel/Office . You can find the version from Help->About. Wikipedia article on Microsoft Excel
MSXML 6.0 SP1, is Service Pack, improves reliability, security, and conformance with the XML 1.0 specification. MSXML 6.0 SP1 also improves compatibility with the System.Xml namespace in the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.
Our guess is that error could have happened As Income Tax Return ,ITR ,uses XML it might be possible that the company which developed ITR (TCS? TCS is maintaing Income Tax website) used the version of XML which needs updates in MSXML 6.0 SP1.
[poll id=”43″]
Note: We have not faced the problem, we could not reproduce it but it worked for our readers. This is for information purpose only. Use it at your own risk. If the solution works please let us and other readers know what worked for you. If it doesn’t Please don’t blame us.
Did you face the problem in using ITR Excel file? If no which version of Excel you used? Did you e-file yourself or used an online tax filing website?