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The syntax diagram for MERGE:

[ WITH <common_table_expression> [,...n] ]  
MERGE
    [ TOP ( expression ) [ PERCENT ] ]
    [ INTO ] <target_table> [ WITH ( <merge_hint> ) ] [ [ AS ] table_alias ]  
    USING <table_source> [ [ AS ] table_alias ]
    ON <merge_search_condition>  
    [ WHEN MATCHED [ AND <clause_search_condition> ]  
        THEN <merge_matched> ] [ ...n ]  
    [ WHEN NOT MATCHED [ BY TARGET ] [ AND <clause_search_condition> ]  
        THEN <merge_not_matched> ]  
    [ WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE [ AND <clause_search_condition> ]  
        THEN <merge_matched> ] [ ...n ]  
    [ <output_clause> ]  
    [ OPTION ( <query_hint> [ ,...n ] ) ]
;  

Indicates that [ INTO ] is optional. Just like with INSERT it doesn't make any difference whether it's there or not.