A new roof only qualifies for a federal energy tax credit in one narrow situation: a solar roof (solar shingles or tiles) that was fully installed by December 31, 2025. Both federal residential energy credits ended for property placed in service after that date under Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025.1Internal Revenue Service. FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D Under Public Law 119-21 Conventional metal and asphalt roofs have not qualified since the end of 2022. If you finished a qualifying solar installation before the cutoff, you can still claim it on your 2025 return, and an unused portion can carry into 2026.
Solar Roofs Installed by December 31, 2025
The Residential Clean Energy Credit under 26 U.S.C. 25D covered 30% of the total cost of a qualifying solar installation, including materials and labor for on-site preparation, assembly, and installation.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 25D – Residential Clean Energy Credit A $40,000 solar shingle project completed in 2025 produces a $12,000 credit.
Solar shingles and tiles qualify because they both cover the roof and generate electricity. The statute specifically provides that solar property installed as a roof is not disqualified merely because it also functions as a structural component, so the entire cost of the solar roof counts, not just the electrical portion.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 25D – Residential Clean Energy Credit
The credit applied to any home you use as a residence in the United States, including a second home, and even a home you also rent out for part of the year.3Internal Revenue Service. Updates to Frequently Asked Questions About the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit and the Residential Clean Energy Property Credit A property held purely as a rental you do not live in never qualified.
Traditional Roofs Do Not Qualify
A regular reroof — asphalt shingles, metal panels, tile — generates no federal credit. The Inflation Reduction Act removed metal and asphalt roofs from the list of qualifying building envelope components under 26 U.S.C. 25C for property placed in service after December 31, 2022, and that exclusion covered even high-performance metal roofs with reflective cool-roof coatings.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 25C – Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit
The only roof-adjacent items that remained eligible under 25C were insulation and air sealing materials, with material costs counting but labor excluded.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5695 With the termination of 25C for anything placed in service after 2025, those items no longer produce a credit either.
Installation Date Controls, Not Payment Date
Paying a contractor in 2025 does not lock in the credit. The IRS treats an expenditure as made when the original installation is completed, not when materials are purchased or invoices are paid.1Internal Revenue Service. FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D Under Public Law 119-21 A project paid in full during December 2025 but finished in January 2026 does not qualify. For new construction, the expenditure is treated as made when you first begin using the home, so a newly built house completed in 2026 with solar roofing is out.
Carrying Unused Solar Credits Into 2026
If your qualifying 2025 solar roof produced a credit larger than your 2025 tax liability, the unused portion carries forward. You can apply the leftover amount against your 2026 tax bill.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5695 The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit works differently: any 25C amount that exceeded your tax liability in the year you claimed it is lost, because 25C cannot be carried forward.6Internal Revenue Service. 7Internal Revenue Service. Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit
Records to Keep
For a pre-2026 installation you plan to claim, hold on to the Manufacturer’s Certification Statement, a signed document from the product maker confirming the item meets federal efficiency requirements. You do not file it with your return, but the IRS may ask for it.8ENERGY STAR. Tax Credit Definitions Keep itemized receipts that separate materials from labor. Labor was fully eligible under the 25D solar credit but excluded for most 25C items, so a contractor invoice with both lines protects the claim.
Filing Form 5695
Report the credit on IRS Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits. Part I is the Residential Clean Energy Credit; Part II is the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit. Enter your project costs and the installation address, then attach Form 5695 to your Form 1040.9Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits If your 2025 credit is larger than your 2025 tax, file Form 5695 anyway so the carryforward is documented for 2026.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5695