I think it's only supposed to be a two week difference between the beginning and end of the doling out of the direct deposit rebates. So as long as you had your tax return direct deposited, I think it should be there by the 16th (although don't quote me on that). And then after that they're sending out the paper ones.

As far as I know, they're based on the ones for last year, the ones we all just filed. That's why they made a big deal about making sure you got them in on time.