I appreciate you walking me through the steps you’ve already taken to fix this, halfjeldsted. Since those browser adjustments didn't do the trick, let’s go through the specific download sequence required to stop the file from converting to HTML.
Just to make sure we're on the same page, were you using the standard QBO Payroll instructions for the T4 XML download?
If so, yet the file is still changing from .xml to .html. This is due to how web browsers try to be helpful by defaulting to a web-friendly format. This, unfortunately, breaks the specific XML structure the CRA requires for your submission.
To resolve this, please ensure that all optional fields without values are removed from your file and that all employee data is stripped of special characters (e.g., $, ^, #).
Next, you'll want to regenerate the T4 and T5018 again in QBO Payroll. Once completed, you'll want to locate the downloaded file on your device and follow these steps:
- Right-click the file link and select Save Link As or Save Target As, depending on your browser.
- In the save dialog, manually type the filename with .xml at the end (e.g., T4_2024.xml), then change the Save as type dropdown to All Files (.) instead of leaving it on the default setting.
- Before saving, ensure the file doesn't show a double extension like .xml.html in the filename field.
This will prevent the browser from appending a hidden .html extension.
If the file still won't behave after these steps, I’d recommend connecting with our Live Support team. They can join you in a secure screen-share to see exactly what’s happening during the save process and get to the bottom of this unusual behaviour.
Feel free to reply to this post if you need further assistance.
