As many consumers begin receiving tax rebates worth hundreds of dollars -- or up to $1,200 for married couples who file jointly -- retail chains are busy making plans to attract a sizeable chunk of those checks to their stores. The rebates will be available to some direct-deposit taxpayers as early as this week while checks by U.S. Postal Service will take longer.  Wal-Mart has said it will announce a tax-rebate-related program within the next few days.  Here’s a quick rundown of some of the retailers’ plans, as reported by USA TODAY:

• Home Depot will urge consumers to invest in ways to cut energy bills by offering discounts through July on Energy Star appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs that help “take a short-term stimulus and turn it into a long-term investment.”
• Kroger stores will add 10% to the value of rebate checks when customers use them in $300 increments to buy Kroger gift cards. A customer with a $500 rebate check can buy a $330 Kroger gift card for $300 and get the rest of their rebate check back in cash.
• Supervalu, parent company of Albertsons, Shop ‘n Save and other food chains, will offer a similar tax-rebate check exchange for store gift cards program with an extra $30 added for every $300 in rebate checks through July 31.
• Sears will give customers who cash in the rebates for a gift card between May 14 to July 19 (for use at Sears, K-Mart or Lands’ End stores) an extra 10%. The gift cards have no expiration dates or fees.
• Staples is urging small-business owners to spend their rebates. Until May 4, the paper reports, Staples is offering $50 off purchases of $500 or more and $150 off furniture costing at least $1,000. Through June 30, purchases of more than $499 can be made with a Staples credit card and the store will charge no interest and require no payments for six months.