Are Home Energy Tax Credits Still Available in 2026?
No. All three residential energy credits have now ended. Here is what each one was worth, the exact date it stopped, and what that adds to a project you are quoting today.
Key Takeaways
- All three residential energy tax credits have ended. 25C (efficiency) and 25D (solar and clean energy) stopped for anything placed in service or paid for after December 31, 2025. 30C (EV chargers) stopped after June 30, 2026
- The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut these off eight years early. The Inflation Reduction Act had scheduled 25C and 25D to run through 2032, which is why so much still-published advice says they are available
- For solar the trigger is when installation is COMPLETED, not when you paid. A system bought in 2025 and finished in 2026 does not qualify, per the IRS's own guidance
- Work you completed in 2025 is still claimable on your 2025 return. The credits ended going forward; they were not clawed back
- State and utility rebates are separate programs and most of them survived. They are now the only offset on an efficiency project
The short answer
No. As of today there is no federal tax credit for a residential energy improvement, and there has not been one for most of them since the start of the year.
This catches people out because the change was fast and it reversed a long-running policy. The Inflation Reduction Act had these credits scheduled through 2032, and a great deal of published advice, including several pages on this site until we corrected them, was written against that schedule. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), enacted July 4, 2025, ended them roughly eight years early.
| Credit | What it covered | What it was worth | Last date it applied |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement | Heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, insulation and air sealing, windows, doors, efficient AC, boilers, furnaces | 30% of cost. $2,000 for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters, $1,200 for insulation, $600 for windows, $250 per door. $3,200 combined per year | Placed in service on or before Dec 31, 2025 |
| 25D Residential Clean Energy | Solar panels, battery storage, geothermal heat pumps, solar water heating | 30% of total installed cost, no cap | Expenditures made on or before Dec 31, 2025 |
| 30C Alternative Fuel Refueling | Home EV charging equipment and its installation | 30% of cost, up to $1,000 residential | Placed in service on or before Jun 30, 2026 |
The EV charger credit is the one people are most likely to still be counting on, because it only expired on June 30, 2026. If your charger was energized on or before that date, you can still claim it. If the electrician comes next week, you cannot.
The date that matters is not the date you paid
This is the detail that will cost somebody real money, and it is not the same rule for both credits.
For 25C, the efficiency credit, the test is when the property was placed in service. For 25D, the solar and clean energy credit, the test is when the expenditure was made, and the IRS is explicit about what that means in practice: an expenditure is treated as made when the original installation is completed. Its own guidance states that if installation is completed after December 31, 2025, the expenditure is treated as made after that date, which prevents the taxpayer from claiming the credit.
So a deposit paid in November 2025 on a solar array that got commissioned in February 2026 does not qualify. Neither does a signed contract, a permit, or a delivered pallet of panels sitting in your garage. The install has to have been finished.
If you have a quote in hand that still shows a post-credit price, that is the first thing to check. Some installers have been slow to update their proposal templates, and a quote that nets out a 30% credit is overstating your savings by the full amount of the credit.
What this actually adds to a 2026 project
Using the cost ranges from our own project guides, here is the gap between what these jobs cost while the credits ran and what they cost now. Nothing about the work got more expensive. The bill just stopped being shared.
| Project | Typical installed cost | Credit while it ran | What you pay now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air-source heat pump | $4,000-$12,000 | Up to $2,000 | Full price |
| Heat pump water heater | $1,200-$3,500 | Up to $2,000 | Full price |
| Solar, 7 kW system | $17,500-$24,500 | $5,250-$7,350 (30%, uncapped) | Full price |
| Whole-house windows | $10,000 typical | $600 per year | Full price |
| Attic insulation | $3,000 typical | $900 (capped at $1,200) | Full price |
| Gas tankless water heater | $3,000 typical | $600 | Full price |
| Level 2 EV charger | $800-$2,500 | Up to $1,000 | Full price after Jun 30, 2026 |
Solar takes the biggest hit by a wide margin, because 25D was uncapped. On a typical 7 kW system the credit was worth $5,000 to $7,000, and losing it pushes payback out by several years rather than several months. That is the single largest change on this list, and our [is solar worth it](/blog/is-solar-worth-it/) guide runs the revised numbers state by state.
If you did the work in 2025, you can still claim it
Worth being clear about, because the wording of "the credit ended" makes people think they have missed something they have not. The credits were terminated going forward. Nothing was clawed back.
If your qualifying system was placed in service on or before December 31, 2025 (or, for solar and battery storage, the installation was completed by then), you claim it on your 2025 federal return using IRS Form 5695, the same as always. The same goes for an EV charger energized on or before June 30, 2026.
Keep the receipts and the manufacturer's certification statement. For windows, that includes the Product Identification Number the manufacturer had to supply for each qualifying unit.
What is left, and it is not nothing
The federal tax credit was never the only incentive, and it is the piece that ended. The rest is administered by states and utilities, and most of it survived.
Utility rebates are the most reliable of these and the most overlooked. Depending on your utility, a heat pump can carry $200 to several thousand dollars in rebates, water heaters commonly $50 to $200, and insulation and air sealing are often partly covered outright because the utility would rather pay for your insulation than build capacity.
State programs vary enormously and some are considerably more generous than the federal credit was. DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, is the standard place to check what applies where you live.
Income-qualified households should also look at their state energy office. The IRA rebate programs, including HEEHRA, are state-administered rather than federal tax credits, so their availability and timing are set locally and differ from the credits discussed above.
Two planning habits that are now obsolete
Both of these were sound advice a year ago and are worth actively unlearning.
Splitting work across two tax years. Because 25C reset annually at $3,200 combined, it was worth doing the insulation in December and the windows in January to capture the cap twice. There is no longer a cap to capture, so sequence the work around weather, contractor availability and your own cash flow instead. Our guide to the best time of year to renovate covers what actually drives that now.
Rushing solar to beat a step-down. The old argument was to install before the 30% rate fell to 26% and then 22%. That deadline no longer exists, because the credit did not step down, it ended. There is nothing left to beat, so take the time to get three quotes and size the system properly.
If you are reading a cost guide anywhere that still says these credits run through 2032, check its date. That was the correct answer for three years and it stopped being correct on January 1, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the 30% solar tax credit still available in 2026?
No. The Residential Clean Energy Credit (section 25D) ended for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. The IRS treats an expenditure as made when the installation is completed, so a system paid for in 2025 but finished in 2026 does not qualify.
Is there still a $2,000 heat pump tax credit?
No. The $2,000 credit was part of the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (section 25C), which ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. A heat pump installed today gets no federal credit, though state and utility rebates may still apply.
Can I still claim the EV charger tax credit?
Only if the charger was placed in service on or before June 30, 2026. The 30C credit, worth 30% of equipment and installation up to $1,000 for a home, ended after that date.
Why do so many websites still say these credits run through 2032?
Because that was true until the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was enacted on July 4, 2025. The Inflation Reduction Act had scheduled 25C and 25D through 2032, and a lot of published guidance was written against that schedule and never updated.
I installed a heat pump in 2025 but have not filed yet. Did I lose the credit?
No. If it was placed in service on or before December 31, 2025 you claim it on your 2025 return using IRS Form 5695. The termination applies going forward and does not affect work already completed.
Are state and utility rebates gone too?
No. Those are separate programs run by states and utilities rather than the IRS, and most of them continue. Check DSIRE for state incentives and your own utility for equipment rebates, which are now the main way to reduce the cost of an efficiency project.