The TaxCalc Mail Merge function relies on the automation in the Microsoft Office Suite  On occasion, customers report that it does not work as it should, (normally due to problems with their copy of Office or the COM add-ins). If you experience problems with Mail Merge, please go through the following steps before calling TaxCalc Support.

The Knowledge Base article How do I use Mail Merge in the Mac version of TaxCalc? and How do I use Mail Merge? contain detailed information on using Mail Merge itself.

Please note that Mail Merge on Linux is not supported.

Is your version of Microsoft Office supported?

Currently, TaxCalc support Office 2007 onwards for the PC and Office 2011 onwards on the Mac. If you do not have a supported version of Office, TaxCalc will be unable to help with Mail Merge issues.

Microsoft Word has to be the default document handler

Word has to be the default document handler for .doc and .docx files.

The starter versions of Microsoft Office are not supported

Whilst they are not common, Mail Merge will not work if you have a Starter edition of Office, as there are no automation features in those editions.

Disable all COM Add-ins

The most common reasons for failure are due to third party office COM add-ins. If Mail Merge does not work, disable all COM add-ins before trying again. The most common add-ins where problems arise are ones within document synchronisation programs such as abDocs and third party PDF tools.

To disable COM add-ins in Word:

1. Open MS Word.
2. Go to File > Options > Add-Ins.
3. Go to the bottom of the page (the Manage section) and click Go.
4. Untick any add-ins on the next page and click OK.

Note: The above steps are for Office 2013;. Your version of Office may differ slightly. Refer to Microsoft documentation for more help.