Buzz
Forms like the W-2 clearly instruct you not to use staples to attach documents or checks, as “Staple holes or tears interfere with machine reading.” Meanwhile, the 1040 form allows you to attach documents and other papers, but specifies areas where staples are prohibited.
Interestingly, the IRS's rules and regulations don't mention the word 'paperclip,' which suggests these little metal tools are perfectly acceptable. If even a small number of taxpayers follow this reasoning, the IRS ends up with a large number of new paperclips each year. But what happens to this influx of office supplies?
The IRS doesn't keep an exact count of how many paperclips arrive with forms, but they do their best to make sure they aren't wasted. An IRS representative explains, 'When we receive paperclips with paper returns, we simply reuse them.' With more people filing electronically, the flow of free paperclips is rapidly declining, he adds.
According to the IRS’s filing statistics, of the approximately 149,684,000 individual income tax returns submitted in 2014, 125,821,000 were filed electronically, marking a 3% increase from the previous year. At this pace, the era of receiving free paperclips at the IRS is coming to an end.
