Form 8863 constantly getting rejected - frustrated with education credits!

This is actually a pretty common issue with Form 8863 on the Free File Fillable Forms system. The problem is likely not with your entries, but with how the system processes the form. I've seen this exact rejection reason many times. First, try this: even though you only attended one institution, fill out both 22a AND 22b sections completely. For 22b, just duplicate the information from 22a but check "No" for the boxes in 22b(2) and 22b(3). Sometimes the system wants all boxes explicitly marked rather than left blank. If that doesn't work, another trick is to download your form, open it in a PDF reader, make sure all checkboxes are clearly marked, and then re-upload it. The system occasionally has trouble recognizing checked boxes in certain browsers.

I had almost the exact same problem and I found that taxr.ai https://taxr.ai actually helped me figure out what was happening with my Form 8863 rejection. I was getting so frustrated with the fillable forms that I was about to give up, but a friend told me about this tool. It scanned my form and pointed out that even though I had checked the boxes on my screen, they weren't actually registering properly in the PDF data. Something about the way the free fillable forms system handles checkboxes. The tool showed me I needed to actually type "X" in the boxes instead of just clicking them, and then my form finally went through! It saved me from having to mail in my return or pay for expensive software.

Okay I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it with my Form 8863 that was getting rejected for similar checkbox issues. The tool immediately found that I had checked boxes visually in the form but the data wasn't being recorded properly in the PDF. It also found two calculation errors I had made on Line 19 that would have triggered an IRS letter later. It literally took about 2 minutes and my return was accepted after 4 previous rejections. Wish I'd known about this weeks ago instead of banging my head against the wall with the free fillable forms system. Definitely bookmarking this for next year too.

If you're still having trouble with your Form 8863 getting rejected AND you need to speak with someone at the IRS about it, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS phone line about a similar rejection issue with my education credits form. After endless busy signals and disconnects, I tried Claimyr and they got me a callback from the IRS in about 45 minutes. The agent was able to explain exactly what was going wrong with my Form 8863 submission (turns out there was a system glitch affecting certain 1098-T information). They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was about to give up and just mail my return which would have delayed my refund by months, so the service was absolutely worth it.

I need to apologize and admit that Claimyr actually does work. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I was still stuck with my education credit form being rejected. Out of desperation I tried the service, and within an hour I got a call connecting me to an actual IRS agent. The agent explained that there's a known issue with Form 8863 where checking boxes in certain PDF viewers doesn't properly register in the system. She walked me through exactly how to fix it (I needed to download the form, open it in Adobe Reader specifically, check the boxes, then re-upload). My return was accepted this morning after being rejected five times before. I've literally never gotten through to the IRS during filing season before, so I'm still kind of shocked this worked. Saved me from having to mail in my return and wait months for processing.

Has anyone tried accessing the 8863 through a different browser? I had a similar issue last year and switching from Chrome to Firefox fixed it. Something about how different browsers handle the form fields in the free fillable forms system. Worth a try before you pay for anything or go through the hassle of calling the IRS.

What I ended up doing after facing this exact same issue was printing out Form 8863, filling it out by hand, scanning it, and then attaching it to my electronic return as a PDF. This bypassed the fillable form system's validation for that particular form while still allowing me to e-file the rest of my return. It's a workaround but it worked for me.

I've been dealing with this exact same Form 8863 rejection issue for the past week! After reading through all these suggestions, I tried the browser switching approach first (went from Safari to Firefox) and that actually fixed it for me. For anyone still struggling, here's what I learned from this thread and my own experience: 1. Try a different browser first - it's the easiest fix 2. Make sure you're filling out BOTH 22a and 22b sections even if you only attended one school 3. If checkboxes aren't working, try typing "X" instead of clicking 4. As a last resort, the print/scan/attach method works The whole Free File Fillable Forms system really needs an overhaul. These rejection issues seem way too common for such a basic form. Thanks everyone for sharing your solutions - this thread probably saved dozens of people from having to mail in their returns!