To rescind your ITIN after getting an SSN, send a letter to the IRS, or visit a local Taxpayer Assistance Center, asking the agency to void the ITIN and move your prior tax records onto your new Social Security Number. The IRS will not do this on its own, and the Social Security Administration does not pass the information along for you. Until you make the request, your wages and withholdings can end up split between two identification numbers.
What to Gather First
Before you contact the IRS, pull together:
- Your full legal name as it appears on both your ITIN and SSN records
- Your current mailing address
- Your ITIN (the nine-digit number originally assigned to you)
- Your new SSN and a copy of your Social Security card
- Your CP 565 notice, the ITIN Assignment Notice the IRS mailed when the ITIN was issued, if you still have it1Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP565 Notice
The CP 565 is not required, but including it helps the IRS match your records faster. Send copies of your Social Security card and the CP 565, never the originals.
Mailing a Letter to the IRS
Write a short letter stating that you have been assigned an SSN and want the IRS to combine your tax records. Put your full name, mailing address, and ITIN in the body of the letter, and attach a clear copy of your Social Security card along with the CP 565 if you have it.2Internal Revenue Service. Additional ITIN Information
Mail everything to:
Internal Revenue Service
Austin, TX 73301-00572Internal Revenue Service. Additional ITIN Information
There is no online portal for this notification, so send the letter by certified mail with return receipt requested and keep copies of everything. The paper trail is your only proof the request was made.
Visiting a Local IRS Office
You can also walk the request into a local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center.2Internal Revenue Service. Additional ITIN Information Bring the same items you would mail: your Social Security card, your ITIN, and the CP 565 notice if you kept it. Most offices require an appointment, which you can schedule through the IRS website or by phone. In person is often faster because an agent handles the request on the spot rather than routing it through a mail queue.
What Happens After You Notify the IRS
Once the IRS processes your notification, it voids the ITIN permanently and transfers the tax history filed under that number to your SSN.2Internal Revenue Service. Additional ITIN Information Your earnings, withholdings, and return history then live under one number. The voided ITIN cannot be reissued or reactivated.
The IRS does not publish a specific timeline for this consolidation. Expect standard correspondence turnaround, which can run several weeks to a few months during busy periods. If a spouse or dependent who previously filed under an ITIN also received an SSN, each person has to send a separate notification.
Update Your Employer and Future Returns
Every tax return you file after receiving your SSN must use the SSN, not the ITIN. That covers federal returns, state returns, and any amended returns for prior years. If your tax software has the ITIN saved, change it before you submit anything new.
Give your employer a new W-4 with the SSN as soon as you can, since wages get reported to the IRS using the identification number on that form. Banks, brokerages, and anyone else who issues you a 1099 should also receive the updated number so future tax documents match your consolidated record.
What Rescinding the ITIN Will Not Do
Getting an SSN does not retroactively open up the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC requires a valid SSN, and the PATH Act bars you from going back to claim it for years when you or a qualifying family member did not yet hold one. Filing under an ITIN in prior years cannot be reworked into an EITC claim now.
You generally do not need to amend past returns just because your identification number changed. The record consolidation itself handles linking old returns to the new SSN. Amending a prior year makes sense only if there was an unrelated error, or if you became eligible for a credit or deduction you did not originally claim.
Mistakes That Slow Things Down
The most common mistake is never notifying the IRS at all. People assume the Social Security Administration passes the information along, but it does not. Every year you wait is another year of records split between two numbers.
The second is sending the letter to the wrong Austin address. The IRS uses different P.O. boxes for different ITIN matters. W-7 applications, for example, go to P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 (12/2024) Rescission letters go to Austin, TX 73301-0057.2Internal Revenue Service. Additional ITIN Information Mixing them up can add weeks.
The third is mailing original documents. Send copies. If an original gets lost in processing, replacing it becomes a separate problem on top of the one you were trying to solve.