We've received numerous e-mails this week with questions on 1099-R forms.   If you did a distribution or direct rollover from a 401k, 403b or other employer plan or did a distribution from your IRA you should have received this form. 

Often investors will do a direct rollover and then take a distribution from their IRA which will actually generate two 1099-R forms; one from your employer and the other from your IRA custodian.

Bankrate.com answers questions on the 1099-R.

What the 1099-R tells you
Box 1 of the form shows the total amount of your retirement fund that was distributed. The more important amount to you right now is in box 2a, the taxable amount. For direct rollovers from one qualified plan to another, that amount is generally zero.

Also check box 7, the distribution code. A letter or number should be here, explaining to the IRS exactly why your retirement money was taken out and just what was done with it. Direct rollovers to another qualified plan are coded with the letter "G." This includes transfers to another company's 401(k) plan, a tax-sheltered 403(b) annuity, a government 457(b) plan or an IRA.

The code lets the IRS know that the money was never in your hands, an important point when it comes to taxes on transferred retirement funds. If you had taken the money out yourself, taxes would have been withheld.