The Treasury is apparently ahead of schedule for sending out the economic stimulus rebates. These additional tax refunds were scheduled to start going out on May 2nd, but are now going to be sent starting April 28th, according to an announcement from the White House. Kay Bell has posted a revised calendar of when the checks will be sent, either via direct deposit or through the mail.

In her article, Bell also noticed that in this first round of rebate checks will be mailed out during the 4th of July week. "How convenient that the last of the mailed checks will go out Independence Day week. Surely that's just serendipitous ... Not!" And the Associated Press has noticed that the President discussed the rising cost of gasoline and groceries, a shift from his earlier comments about boosting consumer spending. "By saying expressly that people could use these one-time checks to pay for such necessities as food and gas, Bush underscored the deepening challenges facing the economy."

Personally, I have a pretty good idea of what I'll use my own rebate check for. It will sit in my savings account for month or so, and then go right back to the feds when I pay my second quarter estimated taxes. Other friends, clients, and business colleagues have said they will use the rebate either to pay their taxes or pay down their credit cards. And this echoes the results of a poll conducted by About Financial Planning. When asked "What would you do with the proposed tax rebate?," forty-five percent of respondents said they would use the money to pay off debt.

For the official information about the rebates, see the following IRS Web pages:

• Economic Stimulus Payments Information Center
• Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator