Federal Tax Credits for Windows and Doors in 2026 — the Section 25C Status

Last reviewed: 2026-08-10

Status as of August 2026: Section 25C, the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, does not apply to any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. If you are planning a window or door project in 2026, this credit is not available for that work. This page exists because most of the internet still says otherwise. Sources and details below.

Researched and written by one person, not an editorial team. I am an independent researcher, not a licensed contractor, not a tax professional, and I do not install windows — see the About page for exactly what I do and don't do. This page contains no lead-capture form.

Important: This page describes the current law. It is not tax advice. The eligibility rules for tax credits involve your individual tax situation, filing status, income, and other factors that only a qualified tax professional can evaluate. Consult a tax professional before making financial decisions based on tax credit information.

Why this page exists

If you search "federal tax credit windows doors 2026" today, the majority of results — blog posts, contractor marketing pages, even some tax-firm articles — will tell you that the Section 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit provides up to $3,200 per year and runs through 2032. That was true before July 4, 2025. It is no longer true. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed on that date accelerated the credit's termination by seven years. Most online content has not caught up, or has been updated without acknowledging how significant the change is. This page is a primary-source extraction of what the credit actually was, what changed, and what the law says now — with citations to the IRS, the statute, and trade-association reporting.

The credit has a high volatility rating: its availability changed mid-year under a large omnibus bill, and further IRS guidance may still be issued. Check dates on any source you read, including this one.

Section 25C: what the credit was

Section 25C of the Internal Revenue Code, as restructured by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Pub. L. 117-169), provided a nonrefundable tax credit equal to 30 percent of qualified energy-efficiency expenditures for a taxpayer's principal U.S. residence. The credit had no lifetime dollar limit — the annual caps reset each tax year, meaning a homeowner could claim the maximum in 2023, again in 2024, again in 2025, and so on through the original 2032 termination.

The statutory dollar caps, per IRC §25C(b), organized by category:

Category Annual cap Notes
General envelope and energy property $1,200 per year total Aggregate ceiling for windows, doors, insulation, and individual energy-property items
Exterior windows and skylights $600 Sub-limit within the $1,200 envelope cap
Exterior doors $250 per door, $500 aggregate Sub-limit within the $1,200 envelope cap
Individual energy-property items (furnace, AC, water heater, electrical panel) $600 per item Sub-limit within the $1,200 envelope cap
Home energy audit $150 Sub-limit within the $1,200 envelope cap
Heat pumps and heat pump water heaters $2,000 aggregate Separate cap — not subject to the $1,200 ceiling
Biomass stoves and boilers Included in the $2,000 heat-pump bucket Must meet ≥75% thermal efficiency

The practical ceiling for a single year: $3,200 ($1,200 envelope + $2,000 heat-pump bucket), achievable only if a homeowner claimed both categories. Most window-and-door projects, which do not include heat-pump purchases, were capped at the $1,200 envelope level, with windows specifically capped at $600.

Sources: IRS, "Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit" (§25C) (retrieved 2026-08-10); IRC §25C as codified, Cornell Law School (retrieved 2026-08-10, primary-document extraction of statutory text).

What qualified for the windows-and-doors credit

Under §25C(c), "qualified energy efficiency improvements" were building envelope components with an expected lifespan of at least five years, installed in the taxpayer's principal U.S. residence, where the original use began with the taxpayer. Three categories were relevant for windows and doors:

Exterior windows and skylights had to meet "Energy Star most efficient certification requirements" — a higher bar than general Energy Star certification. This was the "Most Efficient" designation, which covered the top-performing tier of certified products in each climate region.

Exterior doors had to meet "applicable Energy Star requirements" — the standard Energy Star certification, not the Most Efficient tier.

Insulation and air-sealing materials had to meet prescriptive criteria from the most recent International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in effect at the beginning of the calendar year two years before the component was placed in service.

Critically, labor costs did not qualify for building envelope components. The credit applied to the cost of the windows, doors, and insulation materials themselves — not to the cost of installation. This was a common point of confusion, because for other categories of qualified energy property (heat pumps, furnaces, water heaters), labor for installation did qualify.

The taxpayer had to use the home as their principal residence. Landlords and owners who did not live in the home could not claim the credit. Partial business use of 20 percent or less still qualified for the full credit.

Source: IRC §25C(c), (d) as codified, Cornell Law School (retrieved 2026-08-10, primary-document extraction).

The original IRA timeline vs. what actually happened

This is the core of why the internet is wrong, and it is worth understanding precisely.

When the Inflation Reduction Act was signed on August 16, 2022, it restructured Section 25C from a one-time $1,500 lifetime credit into an annual credit with the $3,200 combined cap described above, and set the credit to run through December 31, 2032. The NAHB described the IRA provision as extending Section 25C "for property placed in service prior to Jan. 1, 2033" — meaning homeowners had a decade-long runway to claim the credit on qualifying projects.

That timeline held for less than three years.

On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA, Pub. L. 119-21). Section 70505 of the OBBBA modified Section 25C by replacing the 2032 termination date with December 31, 2025 — a pull-forward of approximately seven years. The IRS confirmed this on its OBBBA provisions page: Section 25C is "Not allowed for any property placed in service after Dec. 31, 2025" (source, retrieved 2026-08-10).

Original IRA (signed Aug. 16, 2022) After OBBBA (signed Jul. 4, 2025)
Credit available for property placed in service Through Dec. 31, 2032 Through Dec. 31, 2025
Credit available for 2026 projects Yes No
Years of availability lost — ~7 years
OBBBA section modifying §25C — §70505 (Pub. L. 119-21)

Sources: NAHB, "Expiring Energy Tax Credits" (retrieved 2026-08-10); IRS, "One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 — Provisions" (retrieved 2026-08-10); Covington & Burling LLP, "Key Provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (retrieved 2026-08-10).

"Placed in service" — the critical definition

The phrase "placed in service" has a specific meaning under the tax code, and the IRS emphasized it in its guidance following the OBBBA. The Alliance to Save Energy reported that IRS Fact Sheet 2025-05 clarified:

"Placed in service" is now the strict requirement — you must complete installation (not just pay or sign a contract) by the deadline. If installation is completed after the deadline, the credit won't be allowed — even if you paid before the cutoff.

This matters practically: a homeowner who signed a window contract in November 2025 but whose installation was not completed until January 2026 would not qualify for the credit. The physical completion of installation — not the contract date, not the payment date, not the order date — is what determines eligibility.

Source: Alliance to Save Energy, "What New IRS Guidance Means for Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives" (retrieved 2026-08-10).

What the IRS guidance actually says

The IRS has addressed the OBBBA's impact on Section 25C in three places we were able to identify:

  1. The OBBBA provisions page (irs.gov/newsroom): Lists Section 25C under "Home energy credit expirations" and states it is "Not allowed for any property placed in service after Dec. 31, 2025." The page identifies Section 70505 of the "Working Families Tax Cuts" as the modifying provision.

  2. Fact Sheet 2025-05: The IRS issued this fact sheet addressing the "modification of sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D under" the OBBBA. We were able to confirm the fact sheet's existence and general content through the IRS news release (IR-2025-86) announcing it and through the Alliance to Save Energy's summary of its guidance, but we were unable to access the full text of the fact sheet itself — the IRS newsroom page returned a 404 on direct fetch (retrieved 2026-08-10). The Alliance to Save Energy's reporting on the fact sheet included the "placed in service" clarification quoted above.

  3. Form 5695 Instructions (2025): The IRS instructions for Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits, state plainly: "You can't claim energy efficient home improvement credits for expenditures or property placed in service after December 31, 2025." The instructions also confirm the 30% credit rate, the $1,200 combined limit, the $600 window/skylight cap, and the $250-per-door/$500-aggregate door caps.

The NAHB, advising builders and remodelers, recommended they "consult with their tax professional" and noted that "the IRS and Treasury may issue additional taxpayer guidance" — suggesting the regulatory picture may still evolve, even though the statutory expiration date is fixed.

Sources: IRS, OBBBA Provisions page (retrieved 2026-08-10); IRS, Fact Sheet 2025-05 announcement (IR-2025-86) (retrieved 2026-08-10); IRS, Form 5695 Instructions (retrieved 2026-08-10, primary-document extraction); NAHB, "Expiring Energy Tax Credits" (retrieved 2026-08-10).

The qualified manufacturer identification number — a 2025-only requirement that may confuse 2025 filers

One additional detail worth noting: for property placed in service in 2025 — the final year the credit was available — IRC §25C(h) required that no credit be allowed unless the item was produced by a "qualified manufacturer" and the taxpayer reported a four-character alphanumeric Qualified Manufacturer Identification Number (QMID) on their tax return. The IRS Form 5695 Instructions (2025) confirm: "Beginning January 1, 2025, if you are claiming the energy efficient home improvement credit for specified property placed into service in 2025, you must include the four-character alphanumeric unique qualified manufacturer identification number."

The one exception: insulation and air-sealing materials were exempt from the QMID requirement.

This requirement does not apply to 2026 or later — not because it was repealed, but because the entire credit is unavailable for 2026 property. However, homeowners who completed qualifying work in 2025 and are filing their 2025 tax returns in 2026 should be aware of this requirement and verify that their products carry valid QMIDs. The IRS maintains a searchable list of qualified manufacturers and their product identification numbers.

Source: IRC §25C(h) as codified, Cornell Law School (retrieved 2026-08-10, primary-document extraction); IRS, Form 5695 Instructions (retrieved 2026-08-10, primary-document extraction).

State-level programs: what still exists in 2026

The end of the federal credit does not mean all energy-efficiency incentives for windows and doors disappeared. Several state and utility-run programs remain active in 2026, though they are independent of the federal tax code and operate under their own rules, funding levels, and expiration dates. Below is one example verified as active.

Mass Save — Massachusetts ($75 per window, 2026 program year)

Mass Save, the Massachusetts energy-efficiency program administered by the state's electric and gas utilities, offers a $75 per window rebate for replacing existing single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR® Most Efficient certified models. Key details for the 2026 program year:

Detail Value
Rebate amount $75 per qualifying window
Qualifying window type ENERGY STAR® Most Efficient certified, Northern Region
Existing windows Must be single-pane (verified through Home Energy Assessment)
Purchase window January 1, 2026 – December 31, 2026
Application deadline February 28, 2027 (postmarked or submitted online)
Eligible utilities Berkshire Gas, Cape Light Compact, Eversource, Liberty, National Grid, Unitil
Additional requirement Must complete weatherization recommendations from assessment

The program also offers 0% interest HEAT Loans up to $25,000 for qualifying energy improvements, and no-cost insulation and air-sealing upgrades for income-eligible residents.

This program is illustrative, not exhaustive. Most states have at least one energy-efficiency incentive program, but eligibility, rebate amounts, and funding status vary widely. California's TECH Clean California program, for example, had its single-family heat pump incentives fully reserved as of late 2025 and is not accepting new reservations for that category (source: TECH Clean California, incentive page, retrieved 2026-08-10). Check your state energy office or utility for current programs — do not assume availability based on another state's offering.

Sources: Mass Save, "Windows" rebate (retrieved 2026-08-10); TECH Clean California, single-family incentives (retrieved 2026-08-10).

Why the internet is still wrong — and what to watch for

The lag between a legislative change and the internet's updating is real, but the Section 25C situation is unusually consequential for homeowners making five-figure purchasing decisions. As of this writing:

  • Contractor and window-company marketing pages frequently still advertise the federal tax credit as a reason to buy now, without noting the expiration. Some describe the credit as if it runs through 2032, which was the IRA's original timeline but is no longer the law. This is the most common source of stale information and the one most likely to reach a homeowner making a purchase decision.

  • Tax-firm articles have generally been faster to update. Lumsden CPA, for example, noted the original IRA 2032 schedule and the OBBBA's acceleration to December 31, 2025 in a September 2025 article. Thomson Reuters Tax reported the same change. But not all tax-firm content is equally current, and articles published in early 2025 — before the OBBBA — still reflect the 2032 timeline.

  • News coverage followed the OBBBA's passage. CNBC reported on the credit's expiration in its coverage of the bill's energy provisions, noting the moved-up deadline. We were unable to access the full CNBC article for direct quotation (the page returned a 403 error on fetch, retrieved 2026-08-10), but the headline and description confirm the coverage exists.

  • The IRS itself is the most reliable source, and its OBBBA provisions page and Form 5695 instructions are unambiguous: the credit does not apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2025.

The volatility of this topic means the page you are reading could become stale itself. If you are reading this after August 2026, verify the IRS's current position at irs.gov/credits-deductions/energy-efficient-home-improvement-credit before acting on it. Congress could reinstate, modify, or replace the credit in future legislation — and the IRS may issue additional guidance interpreting the OBBBA's provisions. NAHB noted that homeowners "should expect the IRS to strictly interpret the OBBBA phase-outs."

What we could not verify

  • The full text of IRS Fact Sheet 2025-05. The IRS newsroom announcement (IR-2025-86) confirmed the fact sheet's existence and subject matter, and the Alliance to Save Energy summarized its key guidance, but the fact sheet's own page returned a 404 on direct fetch (retrieved 2026-08-10). We did not invent content to fill this gap; all IRS guidance quoted on this page comes from pages we successfully fetched and verified.

  • The full text of CNBC's coverage. Search results confirmed CNBC published coverage of the OBBBA's energy-credit provisions, including the Section 25C expiration, but the article page returned a 403 error on direct fetch (retrieved 2026-08-10). We reported what the search snippet and metadata confirmed without claiming direct access to the full article.

  • The precise text of OBBBA Section 70505 as enacted. We confirmed the section number and its effect (replacing the 2032 termination with December 31, 2025) from the IRS's own OBBBA provisions page and multiple tax-firm summaries, but we did not successfully extract the section's full text from Congress.gov (the page returned a 403 error, retrieved 2026-08-10). The statutory effect is corroborated across four independent sources.

  • Whether any other federal incentive for residential window and door replacement exists for 2026. This page covers Section 25C specifically. Section 25D (Residential Clean Energy Credit, covering solar, geothermal, etc.) was also terminated for property placed in service after December 31, 2025 under the OBBBA, but it covered different property types and is not a substitute for 25C. We did not conduct an exhaustive survey of every federal energy incentive; a tax professional can advise on whether any other provision might apply to a specific situation.

  • A comprehensive state-by-state inventory. We verified two specific state/utility programs (Mass Save and TECH Clean California) as representative examples. A full survey of all state-level energy-efficiency incentive programs for windows and doors is beyond this page's scope. Your state energy office is the authoritative source.

Sources

All retrieved 2026-08-10.

  1. IRS, "Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit"
  2. IRC §25C as codified, Cornell Law School (primary-document extraction)
  3. IRS, "One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 — Provisions"
  4. IRS, "Treasury, IRS Issue FAQs to Address the Accelerated Termination of Several Energy Provisions Under OBBB" (IR-2025-86) (Fact Sheet 2025-05 announcement; full fact sheet text not directly accessible — 404 on fetch)
  5. IRS, Form 5695 Instructions (2025) (primary-document extraction)
  6. NAHB, "Expiring Energy Tax Credits"
  7. Alliance to Save Energy, "What New IRS Guidance Means for Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives"
  8. Covington & Burling LLP, "Key Provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act"
  9. Lumsden CPA, "Energy Tax Credit Changes Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act"
  10. Mass Save, "Windows" rebate
  11. TECH Clean California, single-family incentives
  12. CNBC, "How to Claim Your 2026 Home Energy Tax Credit" (accessed via search index; direct fetch returned 403 error)