The Federal Window Tax Credit Is Dead. In Texas, There's No State Rebate Waiting to Catch You.

A homeowner outside Katy called three window contractors in August, got quotes in the $11,000 range for a 16-window job, and set the project aside for spring — figuring she'd let the tax credit knock a few hundred dollars off in the new year. She hadn't read past the headline of whatever article told her about Section 25C. The credit that would have applied to her job died on December 31, 2025, four months before she picked up the phone again. Nobody who quoted her in August mentioned that the clock was running out, because in August it still looked like ordinary background noise. By spring, it's just gone.

That story is going to repeat itself across Texas all through 2026, because unlike Connecticut, Massachusetts, or New Jersey, Texas has no state program to catch homeowners on the way down. Our windows hub covers national replacement costs and materials; this one is about what's specific to Texas now that the one federal lever is gone and nothing local replaced it.

What actually died on December 31

Section 25C, the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, ran through the end of 2025 under the Inflation Reduction Act's original schedule. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, moved that end date up: any window or skylight placed in service after December 31, 2025 no longer qualifies, full stop. The window-specific piece of that credit was never huge to begin with — a $600 annual cap, separate from the combined $1,200 limit that also covered insulation and doors, and it only applied to products certified ENERGY STAR Most Efficient for your specific climate zone, not just any ENERGY STAR label. But $600 was real money on an $11,000 job, and a lot of homeowners had it penciled into their budget without knowing the deadline had moved up by a year.

If you signed a contract and the windows were installed before December 31, 2025, you can still claim it on your 2025 return using IRS Form 5695. If the install happens in 2026, there's nothing to file. No extension, no phase-down, no smaller version of the credit. It's off the books entirely, and nothing in current federal law brings it back.

Why Texas homeowners feel this more than most

Homeowners in Connecticut or Massachusetts who lost the federal credit still have a state-level cushion under them — Mass Save's heat pump and weatherization rebates, Connecticut's Home Energy Solutions program, New Jersey's efficiency incentives layered on top of SuSI. Texas has none of that infrastructure for windows specifically. The state's efficiency dollars run through the federal HOMES and HEAR rebate programs, administered here by the Texas Comptroller's office, and as of this writing neither program has opened applications to homeowners. Both are also built around whole-home retrofits and heat pump conversions, not standalone window replacement, so even once they do open, a window-only job isn't the target use case.

Your electric utility isn't a backstop either. Oncor's Take A Load Off Texas program is the largest residential efficiency incentive in the state, and it's real money — $300 to $3,500 for HVAC replacement depending on system type and efficiency tier, plus incentives for attic insulation (R-22 to R-38 upgrades), air sealing, and duct sealing. Windows are not on that measure list. CenterPoint Energy's and AEP Texas's residential efficiency programs follow the same shape: insulation and HVAC come first, windows aren't covered. The Oncor incentive is also contractor-side, not a check to the homeowner — it shows up as a reduced quote from an Oncor-approved provider, which is a different mechanic from a rebate you'd apply for yourself, and it's one more reason a window contractor citing "utility rebate" should be asked to name the specific program.

What sets your price now: the energy code, not the marketing tier

With incentives out of the picture, the number that actually determines your minimum spec is the 2018 IECC, which Texas enforces statewide as its residential energy code floor. The requirement splits by climate zone:

Climate Zone	Coverage	Max U-Factor	Max SHGC
Zone 2	Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Gulf Coast	0.40	0.25
Zone 3	Dallas-Fort Worth and surrounding counties	0.35	0.25

Notice what's not on that list: attic R-value theater or marketing terms like "energy efficient" with no number attached. U-factor measures how much heat moves through the whole window assembly, frame included; SHGC measures how much solar heat the glass lets in. In Texas's climate, SHGC does more work than U-factor, which is why the code caps it at 0.25 in both zones covering the state's major metros — the priority is keeping summer heat gain out, not trapping winter warmth in the way a Connecticut or Massachusetts code would prioritize. Most manufacturers hit that SHGC number by default now with low-E coatings and argon fill, so you're not paying a premium to get there; you're paying a premium if you go past code minimums into higher-performance or impact-rated glass. Local jurisdictions can and do layer stricter amendments on top of the state floor, so the number on your permit application should come from your city's building department, not assumed from this table.

The hail and insurance wildcard

Texas homeowners have a second pressure Connecticut and Massachusetts homeowners don't: wind and hail deductibles that have been climbing for years. The 1% flat deductible that used to be standard across North Texas has mostly disappeared; 2% is typical now, and some higher-risk North Texas zip codes are seeing 3%. These deductibles are calculated as a percentage of your dwelling's insured value, not a flat dollar figure — on a $350,000 home, a 2% deductible is $7,000 out of pocket before insurance pays anything on a hail claim, and $8,000 on a $400,000 home at the same 2%.

That math pushes some homeowners toward impact-rated (sometimes marketed as hurricane- or windstorm-rated) window glass, and it's worth being precise about what that buys you. Texas carriers commonly credit 15% to 35% off wind/hail premium or deductible for a Class 4 impact-resistant roof — that's a well-established, near-universal discount. There is no equivalent statewide, statutory credit for impact windows the way Florida's wind mitigation inspection produces mandated discounts for opening protection. Some individual carriers, especially along the Gulf Coast wind pool, will factor impact glass into underwriting, but it's carrier-specific and never guaranteed the way the roof discount is. The honest case for impact windows in Texas is fewer breakage and water-intrusion claims after a storm, not a line-item premium credit you can bank on before you buy. Ask your agent directly what your specific policy does with impact glass before a contractor's sales pitch tells you it "lowers your rate."

What the numbers actually look like

Window tier	Typical installed cost
Code-minimum vinyl double-pane, Zone 2 (Houston/Austin/San Antonio)	$450 – $650 per window
Code-minimum vinyl double-pane, Zone 3 (Dallas-Fort Worth)	$500 – $700 per window
Impact-rated / windstorm-rated glass, standard frame	$700 – $1,100 per window
Impact-rated, larger or specialty openings	$1,100 – $1,400+ per window
Whole-house job, 15–20 windows, code-minimum tier	$9,000 – $14,500
Whole-house job, 15–20 windows, impact-rated tier	$14,000 – $22,000+

Frame material moves those numbers too — vinyl is the cost baseline, fiberglass typically adds 15% to 25%, and aluminum-clad wood runs highest of the common options. None of these figures include a federal or state credit, because as of this post, there isn't one to subtract.

Reading a 2026 quote correctly

• Any mention of "the tax credit" needs a form number. Section 25C used IRS Form 5695. A contractor citing "the tax credit" for a 2026 installation without naming it, or citing it as still active, is working from outdated marketing material at best.
• "Utility rebate" needs a program name. Oncor's Take A Load Off Texas doesn't cover windows. If a quote references a utility incentive for the window line item specifically, ask which program and measure list it's under, in writing.
• U-factor and SHGC numbers should appear on the quote, not just "energy efficient." For Houston, Austin, or San Antonio, you're looking for 0.40 U-factor / 0.25 SHGC or better. For Dallas-Fort Worth, 0.35 / 0.25.
• "Insurance discount" for impact glass should come from your agent, not your contractor. Ask your carrier directly what your policy actually does with impact-rated windows before it factors into your budget.

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