It takes every tax software vendor time to get the final IRS form, make a mock-up that the IRS approves, code the XML generator that is used for the e-file format, write the code to populate the form, test the heck out of it not only on the 8853 itself but also every form that feeds into it and the form it feeds into (the 1040).
Of course, if you assume that there will be zero changes from the previous year, you might do a lot of this before the final form is released by the IRS...but you have to balance the workloads of the 8853 accountants and programmers and testers with all the other last minute work that is going on. I am sure that the Development staff is still busy trying to make sense of all the things they had to do in early 2021 as the IRS (and Congress) were changing the rules and forms during the 2020 tax season. It is likely that they did things in a hurry for last tax season that they have been fixing ever since.
Then it becomes a matter of scheduling, as the Development Team has only finite resources. Please keep watching the Federal Forms Availability page for updates to the availability date for the 8853.
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