Luck of the Draw

Stimulus payment mailing schedule based on Social Security numbers

The exact date you receive a stimulus check will depend largely on the last two digits of your Social Security number.

More than 130 million stimulus payments will be sent out starting May 2, on a staggered schedule based on the last two digits of taxpayers' Social Security numbers, the Internal Revenue Service said Monday. On jointly filed returns, the mailing schedule will be based on the first Social Security number listed, the IRS said.

For taxpayers who file by April 15 and get their tax refund deposited directly into a bank or other financial account, the IRS will send stimulus payments from May 2 through May 16. For taxpayers who file by April 15 but don't choose direct deposit, the IRS will mail checks from May 16 through July 11 (see detailed schedule below).

Procrastinators, take note: For stimulus payments to be part of this delivery schedule, the IRS said tax returns must be "processed" by April 15 -- not "filed." That implies that a later timetable may apply to taxpayers who mail their return on or close to April 15, leaving little time for the return to be processed by that date.

If you expect a tax refund and choose to direct-deposit it into two or three separate accounts, the IRS will send your stimulus check in the mail. (To have your refund sent to more than one account requires you fill out Form 8888. See this IRS page for more information.)

If you owe taxes and are sending a payment to the IRS with your return, you can still have your stimulus payment deposited directly into a bank or other account, the IRS said. Simply fill out the appropriate section on your return related to direct deposit, detailing your account information. See this IRS page for FAQs on stimulus payments.

If you do owe taxes, be sure to fill out your return and send payment as usual. That is, don't try deducting your expected stimulus payment from your tax bill. If you don't pay your tax bill by April 15, you likely will owe interest and penalties, said Anthony Burke, an IRS spokesman.

However, if you have a past-due federal or state income tax bill or some other type of past-due federal debt such as student loans or child support, your stimulus payment likely will be reduced by what you owe.

Mailing schedule

This is the stimulus payment schedule for tax returns processed by April 15, the IRS said:

There may be exceptions, the IRS warned. "A small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process and to compute a stimulus payment amount. For these returns, stimulus payments may not be issued in accordance with the schedule above, even if the tax return was processed by April 15," the IRS said in it its press release Monday.

"We have some returns that require a second look, that require us to pull them out of the processing for some reason or another," said Anthony Burke, an IRS spokesman, in a telephone interview. "It may not be that there's anything wrong with the return," he said.

The "vast majority of people" will receive their stimulus payment according to the posted schedule, Burke said, "but it's a big system, a lot of returns go through our pipeline" so some returns may not go exactly according to schedule.

Also, the IRS said there's a new online calculator taxpayers can use to figure how much their stimulus payment will be. You'll need to have a completed 2007 tax return on hand to use the calculator.

Andrea Coombes is MarketWatch's assistant personal finance editor, based in San Francisco.