I’ve written previously about how to request an income tax filing extension, and at the tail end of that article I mentioned that requesting an income tax filing extension will likely delay your tax rebate check. Here are some additional details…

On-time filers should begin receiving their tax rebate payments (via mail or direct deposit) in May. While all direct deposits are scheduled to be completed by the end of May, and all checks are scheduled to be sent by July, the IRS has indicated that rebate payments will be actually be sent through December 31, 2008 “to accommodate taxpayers who file tax returns later in the year.”

Given that the extended filing deadline is October 15, 2008, it appears that there will be up to a two month lag in getting the late payments sent. And if you end up extending beyond the normal drop dead date of October 15, 2008 it’s unclear (at least to me) what will happen to your rebate payment.

The bottom line here is that, if you qualify for a tax rebate check, you might want to think twice about requesting a filing extension.