Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax; Chapter 9 - Dividends and Other Corporate Distributions, Introduction

Introduction

This chapter discusses the tax treatment of:

Ordinary dividends,
Capital gain distributions,
Nontaxable distributions, and
Other distributions you may receive from a corporation or a mutual fund.

This chapter also explains how to report dividend income on your tax return.
Dividends are distributions of money, stock, or other property paid to you by a corporation. You also may receive dividends through a partnership, an estate, a trust, or an association that is taxed as a corporation. However, some amounts you receive that are called dividends are actually interest income. (See Dividends that are actually interest under Taxable Interest in chapter 8.)
Most distributions are paid in cash (or check). However, distributions can consist of more stock, stock rights, other property, or services.