@LadyGourmet I could kiss you haha. It will take a few days to know if my return has been officially accepted, but this didn't result in an immediate rejection like the last few times. Thank you for posting the link and for confirming the issue was really with the IRS.
For the sake of putting the information in more places the "hack" is essentially to modify your Schedule C form to remove any Rebates and Refunds listed under the income section and add them instead to the expenses section under Miscellaneous Expenses. Your net income should be the same after this change.
See the link in LadyGourmet's post above if you want to see it explained in a little more detail by an "Employee Tax Expert" who has more tax cred than me. 🙂
