Used to be they were very picky about this, and since I could never remember which it was, I’ve often imagined a mail sorter with two bins: “W-2 Properly Affixed” and “Audit Until Bleeding Rectally.”
This year I find no such picky distinction. What’s the story?
After posting the above, I realized that this is an excellent time to visit this question upon my good friend, Mr. Busy Tax Attorney. The conversation went like this:
(Sounding very harassed) “Hello?”
“Dude. Staple or paper clip?”
“Paper clip, you bastard. Now quit bothering me.” Click.
Nevertheless, I’m still wondering why the IRS no longer prints grave warnings in their instruction booklets.
I don’t remember the picky distinction. I have always stapled, and will always staple, my W-2’s to my 1040 so I won’t get an annoying letter telling me that my W-2’s weren’t attached. I would never trust a paperclip to withstand the treatment a tax return gets. I know of one woman who sewed her W-2 on.
The instructions for my state taxes specifically say staple. I figure, what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
I have a horrific image of a pile of paperclips fifty feet high at IRS headquarters.