CP565 notice: what your ITIN letter means

What the CP565 notice is

A CP565 is the letter the IRS sends to confirm your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). The IRS sums it up in one line: “We gave you an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).”

According to the IRS’s internal manual, you get a CP565 in three situations:

• when the IRS assigns you a new ITIN
• when it renews an ITIN that had expired (the IRS’s sample notice reads “We renewed your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number”)
• when it reissues the notice, for example after you report a new name or address, or ask for a copy

It goes to the mailing address on line 2 of your Form W-7. The IRS says to allow 7 weeks for it, or 9 to 11 weeks if you applied from abroad or between January 15 and April 30. ITIN processing time explains what to do if it’s late.

What’s on your CP565

The IRS publishes a sample CP565. Yours may be laid out a little differently, but it carries the same details:

The IRS uses your ITIN together with your full name and date of birth to match tax documents, payments and letters to you. That’s why the notice asks you to check them. For how the number itself is laid out, see ITIN number format.

Is there an ITIN card?

No. The IRS stopped issuing ITIN cards in December 2003 and has told applicants their number by letter since then. The CP565 is your official record of your ITIN.

It isn’t ID, either. The IRS says an ITIN is only for tax purposes. It doesn’t authorize work in the US, change your immigration status, or qualify you for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit.

What to do when your CP565 arrives

You don’t have to reply. The IRS says no response is needed unless your personal information is wrong. Work through these steps instead:

1. 1

   Check your name and date of birth

   Compare them with your passport and your Form W-7. The IRS asks you to make sure they’re right.

2. 2

   Report any mistake

   The IRS’s sample notice has a contact section to complete and mail to the address at the top of the letter. You can also call the number printed on the notice.

3. 3

   Record your ITIN and keep the letter

   The IRS says to keep the notice in a secure place with your other important documents, and to keep a copy for your files.

4. 4

   Watch for your documents

   Original documents you mailed come back in a separate envelope, within 60 days of the notice date.

5. 5

   Use the ITIN and the exact name on the notice

   Put both on every federal tax return and tax form. The IRS warns that an incorrect name or ITIN can cause processing delays or errors on your account.

If you applied with a tax return, don’t send the return again. The IRS writes your new ITIN on it and forwards it for processing.

Keeping your CP565 safe

A scan or photo stored somewhere safe is a useful backup to the paper letter. You’ll need the letter again if one of these happens:

• Your name changes. Send a copy of the notice with documentation of the change, such as a marriage certificate or court record, to the address at the top of the notice. The IRS updates its records and sends you a new CP565.
• You get a Social Security number. Stop using the ITIN and tell the IRS, so it can combine your tax records under the SSN. The IRS asks for a copy of the CP565, if you have it, along with your letter and a copy of your Social Security card.
• You stop filing for a while. The notice warns that you must use your ITIN on at least one federal income tax return within a three-year period or it will expire. You can renew an expired ITIN, and you keep the same number.

Never received your CP565, or lost it

If it never arrived, wait out the full processing window first. After that, call the IRS: 800-829-1040 inside the US, or 267-941-1000 (not toll-free) from outside the US. If you’ve moved since applying, tell the IRS; its manual lets staff update your address and reissue the notice. If a Certifying Acceptance Agent filed your application, check with them too, because CAAs receive copies of their clients’ ITIN notices.

If you’ve lost it, the IRS’s instruction is short: contact the IRS. It has a reissued version of the CP565 for this purpose. You may not need the letter at all if you just want the number. It’s on the US tax returns you filed after it was assigned, and finding a lost ITIN lists the other places to look.

Whatever you do, don’t apply for a new ITIN. USAGov says plainly that if your ITIN is lost, you shouldn’t apply for a new number.

CP565 vs CP566 vs CP567

The CP565 is one of three notices the IRS sends in response to an ITIN application.

For what to do with the other two, see CP566 and CP567 letters.

Next steps with a new ITIN

• Give it to US payers who ask. Form W-8BEN has a line for your US taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN), for payers who require one.
• File next year’s return with it. Use the ITIN and the name shown on your notice. You can’t e-file a return using an ITIN in the calendar year it was assigned; from the following year you can. Nonresidents generally file Form 1040-NR.
• Keep it active. In the notice’s own words, you must use your ITIN on at least one federal income tax return within a three-year period or it will expire.