Soo.... I followed your instructions, and it did not work; it still forced itemized deductions.
But, your intuition was right! I then re-followed your instructions to the extreme:
- I deleted every form mentioning "itemized" or "deductions."
- I switched to filing separately and deleted every income entry related to my wife.
- I then switched back to filing jointly.
- It finally let me take the correct standard deduction. Phew!
Thanks so much for your help and for pointing me in the right direction!
