CP 565 A / CP 565 B: ITIN assigned, renewed, or status notice, with an Active or Inactive indicator

What CP 565 A / CP 565 B is

The systemic notice the ITIN unit issues when an ITIN is assigned or renewed and whenever the holder's name or address changes. The manual describes CP 565 A as the "Assigned, Active / Inactive, or Renewed Notice" that "Includes an Active or Inactive indicator"; CP 565 B is a reissued copy (IRM 3.21.263.5.9, Jan. 30, 2025). Because it regenerates on any name or address change, "These notices are not necessarily indications the ITIN is renewed" (IRM 3.21.263.2.3(2) Reminder, Jan. 1, 2023; 3.21.263.8.3.1 Note, Aug. 28, 2025). Since December 2003 it has been the only form in which an ITIN is issued; there is no card.

The deadline

No response required. Not a bill.

What to do

When a payee offers a CP 565 with a W-9, read the Active or Inactive indicator rather than the date, check that the W-9 name is the notice name ("use the name as it appears on the ITIN assignment notice," IRM 3.21.263.2.3(2)), and confirm the fourth and fifth digits are in the ITIN ranges. Then run the name and number through TIN matching; the notice proves assignment on its date, not today's DM-1 pairing. Keep the copy with the W-9.

What an ITIN is and what the notice proves

An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is the nine-digit number the IRS issues to individuals who need a U.S. taxpayer identification number but are not eligible for a Social Security number: nonresident aliens with U.S. income, resident aliens without work authorization, and their dependents and spouses. It always begins with 9 and has a fourth and fifth digit pair in the ranges the IRS reserves for ITINs. It is issued only by letter; there has been no card since 2003, and the CP 565 is that letter, sent when the number is assigned or renewed and reissued whenever the holder's name or address changes. For a payer the notice matters because ITIN holders appear on W-9s and 1099s like anyone else, and because ITINs expire: a number not used on a federal return for three consecutive years becomes inactive, and an inactive ITIN still passes format checks but is not matched the same way.

The notice carries an Active or Inactive indicator, and that indicator, not the date, is what to read. A CP 565 issued last month can show Inactive if it was regenerated by an address change on a lapsed number.

Using it on the W-9 and in TIN matching

When a payee presents a CP 565 with their W-9, check three things. The name on line 1 of the W-9 must be the name on the notice exactly, because the IRS matches an ITIN against the name it was assigned under and the holder's local spelling or a married name will not match. The number must pass format: starts with 9, fourth and fifth digits in the ITIN ranges, which the TIN format checker tests. And the indicator must read Active. Then run the pairing through TIN matching anyway; the notice proves that the number was assigned to that name on its date, not that the pairing is current, and an ITIN that has since been revoked or merged into an SSN (CP 567) fails from the next quarterly file. Keep a copy with the W-9. A payee whose ITIN is inactive needs to renew it on Form W-7, and until it is active the safe course for a payer is to treat the W-9 as uncertified and withhold. The ITIN guide checklist covers the full intake, and the TIN matching guide covers what the match does and does not confirm.

Questions about CP 565 A / CP 565 B

Have a different notice? The IRS notice decoder lists all 77 in the order they tend to arrive.