The federal home energy tax credits expired on December 31, 2025. Here's what replaced them.

Four federal residential energy credits expired on December 31, 2025. They had different statutory expiration mechanisms, but they all ended together in practice. All four were part of the original Inflation Reduction Act package that passed in August 2022 and were never extended.

• Section 25C — Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit. Up to $3,200/year for heat pumps, water heaters, insulation, electrical panel upgrades, windows, doors, and home energy audits. Expired Dec 31, 2025.
• Section 25D — Residential Clean Energy Credit. 30% credit on solar, geothermal, battery storage 3+ kWh, fuel cells, and small wind. Expired Dec 31, 2025. (Section 25D was originally scheduled to phase down through 2034; statutory changes accelerated the sunset to 2025.)
• Section 30D — Clean Vehicle Credit. Up to $7,500 for new qualifying EVs. Expired Dec 31, 2025.
• Section 25E — Previously-Owned Clean Vehicle Credit. Up to $4,000 for qualifying used EVs. Expired Dec 31, 2025.

For all four, eligibility is tied to when the product was placed in service (vehicles: delivery date; solar: utility's permission-to-operate date; heat pumps: install completion date). Contracts signed in 2025 but products placed in service in 2026 generally do not qualify, with very narrow exceptions.

If you search "heat pump tax credit 2026" or "EV tax credit 2026" you'll find a remarkable amount of content still describing these credits as active. The reasons:

• The IRA was widely covered as a "10-year program" because Section 25C had a 10-year window (2023–2032 in original statute). The accelerated sunset got far less coverage than the original passage.
• Most installer-published blog content was written in 2023–2024 and hasn't been updated.
• Some content was written assuming the credits would be extended or re-extended. They weren't.

If you're shopping for any of the products above in 2026 and a salesperson, dealer, or contractor cites federal tax credit amounts, ask them to show you the current IRS Form 5695 or Form 8936 instructions. Both forms were retired for tax years 2026+.

Heat pumps, HPWHs, induction, weatherization (formerly 25C)

The federal HEAR (Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates) program replaces 25C's appliance portion — but only for income-qualified households (≤150% AMI) and only in states where the program is open.

Maximum rebates: $8,000 heat pump, $1,750 HPWH, $840 induction stove, $1,600 weatherization, $4,000 electrical panel, $2,500 wiring. Combined household cap: $14,000.

For households above 150% AMI, the practical answer is: state and utility programs. A handful of states (Colorado, New York, Maryland) have their own heat pump tax credits or rebates that are not income-gated.

Solar and battery storage (formerly 25D)

No direct federal replacement. The IRA's commercial clean energy provisions (Section 48E) continue, but they apply to businesses, not residential.

Solar in 2026 relies on: net metering (varies by state), state-level solar tax credits (NY, AZ, MA, OR, NM, SC, MT), SREC markets (IL, NJ, MD, DC, PA), property tax exemptions (25+ states), and sales tax exemptions (FL, AZ, NJ, MA, NY, RI).

New EVs (formerly 30D)

No federal replacement. State EV rebates fill the gap in roughly 15 states (NY, NJ, CO, MA, CT, OR, WA, DE, VT, ME, MD, IL, RI, and a few others). Amounts range from $500 to $5,000+.

The expiration of 30D was the largest single reduction in EV affordability in a decade. New EV transaction prices in early 2026 rose noticeably as the credit was withdrawn from dealer pricing.

Used EVs (formerly 25E)

No federal replacement. Some state used-EV programs continue (NY, OR, CT have small ones).

The silver lining: used EV prices have softened independently of incentive policy. Three-year-old EVs from 2022–2023 model years are now genuinely affordable in many markets, and state used-EV rebates plus the price softness combine to make used the better deal for many buyers in 2026.

In the federal-credit era (2023–2025), the credit usually dwarfed all other incentives, so most calculators and blog posts oriented around it. With the credits gone, the value hierarchy has flipped:

1. HEAR rebates (where available) — for income-qualified households in open-program states, this is the single biggest line item. Worth up to $14,000.
2. SREC markets (for solar in select states) — Illinois Shines, NJ SRP. A 15-year revenue stream often worth $5,000–$10,000 lifetime.
3. State income tax credits — Colorado's $1,500 heat pump credit, NY's 25% solar credit (capped $5,000), Arizona's various clean energy credits.
4. Property tax exemptions for solar — quietly worth $5,000–$15,000 over 20 years in states that offer them.
5. State EV rebates — point-of-sale or post-purchase, $500–$5,000.
6. Utility rebates — $200–$2,000 per appliance. Smaller line items but stack on top of everything.

This is why the calculator on PaybackZIP works by ZIP code: the right answer for a Denver homeowner looks completely different from the right answer for an Austin homeowner, and neither looks like the old federal-credit answer.

If you were planning electrification in 2025 and didn't get it done before December 31, the bad news is that several specific tax-credit doors closed. The good news:

• The state programs that replaced the federal credits are often better for low- and moderate-income households. HEAR's $8,000 heat pump rebate (income-tiered) is more generous than 25C's $2,000 cap was, in absolute dollars.
• The state programs that replaced the federal credits are often worse for upper-middle-income households. If you're at 200% AMI in a state without a non-income-gated heat pump credit, you genuinely have fewer rebate dollars available than you did in 2025.
• The economics still work in most cases — just with longer paybacks. A heat pump install that paid back in 5 years with the federal credit may pay back in 7–8 years without it. Still well within the equipment's useful life.

Two pieces of practical advice:

• If your state HEAR is "coming soon" and you're income-qualified, the wait is often worth it. Several states are launching HEAR through mid-2026; getting on the waitlist or scheduling the project for after HEAR opens can mean $5,000–$10,000 in additional rebate.
• If you're shopping for solar, don't take an installer's pre-2026 quote at face value. Re-run the math with the federal credit removed. Some installs that penciled at $0.30/W net cost in 2024 are at $1.20/W net cost in 2026 — same install, very different economics.