In Minnesota, based on the this website, I believe that anything that is deductible for federal income taxes is deductible for the Minnesota State income tax.
What is federal taxable income (FTI)?
Federal taxable income is the tax base
used to calculate federal income tax
liability. It is also the starting
point for calculating Minnesota
taxable income, the tax base used to
calculate Minnesota income tax
liability. Federal taxable income
equals federal adjusted gross income
(FAGI) after deductions and
exemptions.
Specifically, these are excluded (bold added by myself):
What kinds of income are excluded from FAGI?
FAGI excludes: deductible IRA, SEP,
and SIMPLE contributions; nontaxable
employee fringe benefits; student loan
interest payments; Health Savings
Account contributions and investment
income; moving expenses; one-half of
self-employment tax; health insurance
premiums (for self-employed taxpayers
only); penalty on early withdrawal of
savings; alimony paid by the taxpayer;
for tax year 2008 only, the first $500
of property taxes paid by standard
deduction filers ($1,000 for married
joint filers); and, through tax year
2009, $250 of teacher classroom
expenses and $4,000 of tuition
expenses for higher education. FAGI
does not exclude child support paid by
the taxpayer.
And finally the key statements:
What itemized deductions are allowed?
Itemized deductions are allowed for
the following:
- Payments of state and local property taxes and income taxes
- Mortgage interest
- Charitable contributions
- Medical expenses in excess of 7.5 percent of income
- Casualty and theft losses in excess of 10 percent of income
- Job expenses and miscellaneous expenses (most only allowed in excess
of 2 percent of income)
Obviously this isn't foolproof, as tax law always has "exceptions" but this is the best answer I've found so far.
