You need to submit medical expense data as a CSV file for e-tax, but Excel fails to save correctly. The file may be rejected for incorrect formatting or encoding. This error occurs because Excel’s default CSV settings are not compatible with Japan’s e-tax system requirements. This article explains the correct save settings to create a valid CSV file for submission.
Key Takeaways: Save a CSV File for e-Tax Submission
- File > Save As > CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited): This encoding format ensures Japanese characters are preserved correctly for the e-tax system.
- Data > Get & Transform Data > From Text/CSV: Use this to open and inspect an existing CSV file to verify its structure before submission.
- File > Options > Language > Office display language: Confirm your Excel language is set to match your system locale to prevent regional format conflicts.
Why Excel’s Default CSV Save Fails for e-Tax
Japan’s National Tax Agency e-tax system requires CSV files with specific encoding and formatting. Excel’s standard “CSV (Comma delimited)” save option uses ANSI encoding, which cannot properly handle Japanese text like hospital names or treatments. This causes garbled characters upon upload. Furthermore, the system expects a plain comma delimiter without Excel’s automatic quoting of fields, which can create unexpected quotation marks in the data.
Another common issue is the list separator. Windows regional settings can change the delimiter from a comma to another character. The e-tax system mandates a comma. Date formats are also critical. Excel may save dates in a localized format like YYYY/MM/DD, but the submission portal might require a strict YYYY-MM-DD format without any Excel date serial number interference.
Steps to Save a Correctly Formatted CSV File
Follow these steps to prepare your medical expense worksheet and export it for e-tax submission.
- Prepare your data in Excel
Ensure your medical expense data is in a clean table. The first row should contain column headers exactly as required by the e-tax guidelines, such as “Date of Payment” or “Medical Institution Name.” Do not use merged cells or formulas in the data range you intend to save. - Select the correct save option
Click File > Save As. Browse to your desired save location. In the “Save as type” dropdown list, select “CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)”. This is the most critical step to ensure proper Japanese character encoding. - Name your file and confirm
Enter a filename, typically following the e-tax naming convention. Click Save. Excel will show two warning messages. The first warns about features not supported in CSV format; click Yes. The second warns about saving only the active sheet; click OK. - Verify the saved file contents
Do not open the CSV file by double-clicking it, as this will reopen it in Excel with potential formatting changes. Instead, open the file in a plain text editor like Notepad. Check that Japanese text is readable, commas separate each field, and dates appear in the correct text format.
Alternative Method: Using the Get Data Feature
If you receive a CSV template or need to verify a file’s structure, use the Get Data tool.
- Import the CSV for inspection
Go to the Data tab. Click Get Data > From File > From Text/CSV. Select your CSV file and click Import. - Review the file preview
The preview window shows the data structure. Verify the delimiter is a comma, the encoding is set to UTF-8, and the data types are correct. Click Cancel after inspection, as you do not need to load the data.
Common Mistakes and File Validation
CSV File Shows Garbled Japanese Text After Saving
This means you saved with the wrong encoding. You must use the “CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)” option. The older “CSV (Comma delimited)” option uses ANSI encoding and will corrupt Japanese characters. Always verify the file in Notepad immediately after saving.
e-Tax System Rejects File Due to Incorrect Format
The system may detect extra characters or incorrect delimiters. Ensure your original Excel sheet has no hidden spaces, line breaks within cells, or trailing commas. Use the TRIM function to clean data before saving. Also, confirm your Windows list separator setting is a comma via Control Panel > Region > Additional settings.
Numeric Data Like Amounts is Saved with Comma Decimals
If your system uses a comma as a decimal separator, the CSV will be invalid. Temporarily change Excel’s formatting for the amount column to use a period. Select the cells, press Ctrl+1, choose Number format, and set Decimal symbol to a period (.) in the custom format.
CSV Save Options for e-Tax: Comparison
| Item | CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) | CSV (Comma delimited) |
|---|---|---|
| Best for e-Tax | Yes | No |
| Japanese text encoding | Preserved correctly | Becomes garbled |
| Windows regional setting impact | Low | High |
| Excel warning messages shown | Two standard warnings | Two standard warnings |
You can now create a valid CSV file from Excel for your medical expense e-tax submission. Always select the CSV UTF-8 encoding option during the Save As process. Before final upload, validate the file’s raw contents in a text editor. For complex data cleaning, use Excel’s Text to Columns feature under the Data tab to ensure consistent comma separation.