p2023,
Yes this is tricky, though far from the first time I've seen tax programs round then add rather than the other way around. The IRS expects these discrepancies and programs in some slop in their comparisons. Apparently MN doesn't.
If MN is complaining the penalty is short by a dollar, you can report a smidgen of extra income, say a few bucks of interest, to see if that causes the two calculations to agree. (Yes this is legit and you may well have some bank interest that was under the $10 threshold where they have to issue a 1099-INT. At AARP Tax-Aide we often have to add a fake dollar for returns where the AGI was $0 because none of the taxpayers social security income was taxable.) Chances are slim that the additional income will raise your taxes.
