This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Ask a qualified tax professional about questions concerning your own returns.
Quick summary: Once you receive an SSN, the IRS says to stop using your ITIN for tax purposes and notify it so your tax records can be combined. The mailed notification includes your identifying information, the ITIN assignment notice if available, and a copy of your Social Security card.
This guide is for Guatemalan readers who already received an SSN. It follows the IRS’s general instructions for former ITIN users. If your task is applying for an ITIN, use the separate Form W-7 guide.
Stop using the ITIN and notify the IRS
The IRS’s ITIN page says you cannot have both an ITIN and an SSN. Its instructions after receiving an SSN are to stop using the ITIN, use the SSN for tax purposes, and notify the IRS. It says notification can be made by mail or at a local IRS office.
The reason for notification is specific: the IRS combines the tax records under the SSN. It warns that without notification, you may not receive credit for all wages paid and taxes withheld, which could reduce a refund due. That is the IRS’s stated potential consequence; it is not a prediction about your return.
Prepare the notification letter and attachments
The IRS asks for a letter stating that you were assigned an SSN and want your tax records combined. Use your actual information; no sample personal identifiers are needed.
| Item | What the IRS requests | Distinction to preserve |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose of letter | State that an SSN was assigned and request combination of tax records | The request concerns the prior ITIN tax records |
| Full name | Your full name | Copy your own information into the letter |
| Mailing address | Your mailing address | Do not substitute the IRS destination address |
| ITIN | Your ITIN | Identify the number used for the earlier records |
| Assignment notice | Copy of the CP565 Notice of ITIN Assignment, if available | The IRS expressly includes the availability condition |
| Social Security card | Copy of your Social Security card | The instruction asks for a copy |
A simple letter can follow the order of that checklist. This is an organizational suggestion, not an IRS sample letter or required wording. The IRS instruction is to state the assignment and the request and include the listed information.
Use the address for this notification
The IRS gives this destination for the SSN notification letter:
Internal Revenue Service
Austin, TX 73301-0057
Use the address attached to the SSN-notification instructions. The same IRS webpage contains other addresses for other ITIN tasks; those are not the address shown for this letter. Check the IRS ITIN page before mailing.
The IRS also permits notification at a local IRS office. This page does not provide a walk-in promise, an office appointment process or a private-courier address for this particular letter.
What the IRS says it will combine
The IRS says it will void the ITIN and associate all prior tax information filed under it with the SSN. That statement concerns IRS tax records. This guide makes no promise about credit-bureau files, bank records or Social Security earnings corrections, and gives no completion estimate for the record-combination request.
If your separate issue is an IRS identity-verification notice, use the IRS identity-letter guide. Other document and service guides are in the diaspora hub.
Sources
- IRS: Individual taxpayer identification number, section on receiving an SSN; read 31 October 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep using my ITIN after receiving an SSN?
No. The IRS directs you to stop using the ITIN and use the SSN for tax purposes. It also directs you to notify the IRS.
What should the IRS notification letter include?
State that you were assigned an SSN and want your tax records combined. Include your full name, mailing address, ITIN, a copy of the CP565 assignment notice if available, and a copy of your Social Security card.
Where does the IRS say to mail the letter?
The captured IRS instructions give: Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0057.
What happens to earlier tax records under my ITIN?
The IRS says it will void the ITIN and associate all prior tax information filed under it with the SSN.
