I'm late on filing my taxes so I'm just having this issue now. I responded on this same issue on the same post as was referenced above.
I don't feel like the the limitation on Minnesota's Standard Deduction answers the question. It is true that the limitation on the Standard Deduction means that if we are ONLY comparing the "initial itemization" (Line 4 of Form M1 for MN) the Itemization using M1SA is better than the Standard Deduction.
But, if I'm understanding things correctly (which I may not be, but TurboTax seems to have filed in this way in past years) that ignores the fact that overall a person's MN state return may be better off with a slightly lower "initial" deduction (e.g., the Standard Deduction is a bit lower than the Itemized Deduction) because the individual can then take the charitable deductions via M1M.
If this is the case then it seems like TurboTax could be creating a lot of increased taxes for folks which makes me think I'm missing something. However, I don't see why that is the case since TurboTax filed exactly this same way for me in past years with great benefit for me.
