# Staple or Paper Clip, Or Does the IRS No Longer Care?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staple-or-paper-clip-or-does-the-irs-no-longer-care/61872>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 13, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staple-or-paper-clip-or-does-the-irs-no-longer-care/61872 "2001-04-13T19:11:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staple-or-paper-clip-or-does-the-irs-no-longer-care/61872/1 "2001-04-13T19:11:21Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staple-or-paper-clip-or-does-the-irs-no-longer-care/61872/2 "2001-04-13T19:47:04Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Synergist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Synergist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Synergist)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2001, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staple-or-paper-clip-or-does-the-irs-no-longer-care/61872/3 "2001-04-14T05:32:01Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2001, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staple-or-paper-clip-or-does-the-irs-no-longer-care/61872/4 "2001-04-14T18:21:03Z")

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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.