The statements you receive every year in the mail summarizing your yearly taxable earnings and taxes withheld are called information returns. Information returns must be sent to you and to the IRS by your employers, banks, and companies you invest in. The W-2 wages form is probably the most well-known information return.

The most common information return for investors is the 1099. There is a wide variety of 1099s, based on the different types of earnings made by an investor.

If you own company stock and receive dividends from that stock, you will receive a 1099-DIV. The 1099-DIV summarizes the dividends you were paid and the income tax withheld from those dividends.

Similar to the 1099-DIV is the 1099-INT, which lists your interest income from the past year. The 1099-INT is usually sent to you from banks or other savings institutions. It also lists federal tax withheld and any early withdrawal penalties you may have incurred.

If you traded securities in the past year, you will receive a 1099-B from your broker or mutual fund. The 1099-B lists the amounts you received from the sales or redemptions of securities, futures, commodities, and barter exchanges.

If you participate in a retirement plan such as a pension or IRA, you will get a 1099-R. These information returns list any distributions you received from retirement or profit-sharing plans such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs) or insurance contracts.

If you earned money from a partnership within the last year, you will receive Schedule K-1. This form summarizes the gross income you earned from the partnership, as well as interest, dividends, taxes withheld, etc.

These information returns represent information the sender has shared with the IRS. This information may be correct, but sometimes it isn't. When you receive an information tax form you should compare it with your own financial records to verify that it is correct. If not you should contact the sender and request a corrected form. The IRS relies upon this information and assumes it is correct unless the IRS receives a corrected form from the original sender. It is the taxpayer's responsibility to assure that the information is correct. Failure to do so could result in overpayment of tax or penalties for underpayment of taxes.