The IRS says the 25C energy efficient home improvement credit is not allowed for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and the 25D residential clean energy credit is not allowed for expenditures made after that date. HVAC websites should remove or rewrite copy that presents these credits as available for new installs, date any historical references, and check state and utility programs separately.
What changed
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025, ended several residential energy credits early. The IRS energy credit FAQs summarize the result for the two credits most often mentioned on HVAC websites:
- Section 25C, energy efficient home improvement credit: not allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.
- Section 25D, residential clean energy credit: not allowed for any expenditures made after December 31, 2025. The IRS also explains that an expenditure is treated as made when the original installation is completed, so paying a deposit before the deadline does not help if installation finished later.
Section 25C was the credit many contractors cited for heat pumps, central air conditioners, furnaces and boilers meeting efficiency requirements. Section 25D mainly covered systems such as geothermal heat pumps, solar and battery storage.
This guide is general information, not tax advice. Customers with questions about a past installation should talk to a tax professional.
Why old pages are a problem
A page that says "get up to $2,000 back on a new heat pump" was accurate for installs in 2023 through 2025. Read in 2026 by a homeowner planning an install, it suggests a benefit they cannot get. That can lead to disappointed customers, disputes over quotes and complaints. Pages that promise savings a customer cannot receive also sit uncomfortably with general rules against misleading advertising.
The fix is simple, but it has to be done deliberately. Credit language tends to spread across many pages: heat pump pages, replacement pages, financing pages, blog posts, banners and even image text.
How to find every mention
- Search your site for "25C," "25D," "tax credit," "IRA," "Inflation Reduction Act," "$2,000," "30%" and "rebate."
- Check images and banners, which a text search will miss.
- Check your Google Business Profile posts and offers, and any ad copy.
- Check PDFs and printable flyers linked from the site.
- Ask your technicians what they tell customers, so the site and the sales conversation match.
What to say instead
Option 1: remove it
If credits were only a small part of a page, delete the references and let the page stand on its other benefits.
Option 2: rewrite as dated history
For guides that customers may still read for context, rewrite the section in the past tense with a date: "Until December 31, 2025, the federal 25C credit could apply to qualifying heat pumps. According to the IRS, it is not allowed for property placed in service after that date." This is honest and useful for anyone comparing old quotes.
Option 3: point to current programs
State, local and utility rebate programs may still exist in your area. Some states administer energy rebate programs funded under earlier federal laws; availability, amounts and eligibility vary by state and change often. If you mention a program, name it, link to the program's official page, state the date you checked it and avoid quoting amounts you cannot keep current.
ENERGY STAR mentions
Many HVAC pages reference ENERGY STAR. As of an April 2026 Congressional Research Service report, Congress provided at least $33,024,000 for the ENERGY STAR program at EPA for fiscal year 2026, and EPA and DOE signed a memorandum of agreement on March 3, 2026 to transition primary management of the program to DOE. The report described this as a planned transition without a completed handoff date. If your site explains ENERGY STAR, keep the wording factual, avoid saying which agency runs it unless you have checked recently, and link to the official program site.
A checklist for incentive copy
| Check | Good practice |
|---|---|
| Date | Every incentive mention says when it was last checked |
| Source | Links to the IRS, state program or utility page, not a blog |
| Status | Clearly says whether a program is current or historical |
| Amounts | Only quoted when you can keep them current |
| Eligibility | Says that eligibility depends on the customer and equipment |
| Advice | Points customers to a tax professional for tax questions |
Keeping it current
Incentive programs change more often than almost anything else on an HVAC site. Put a twice yearly accuracy review in your seasonal content calendar, and assign someone to own it. If your web provider runs a care plan, ask them to include an incentive check.
Talking to customers about the change
Some customers will remember the credits from news coverage or from a neighbor's install. Give your office and comfort advisors a short, accurate answer they can use: "The federal tax credits for heat pumps and efficient equipment ended for installs completed after December 31, 2025. We can check whether any state or utility programs apply in your area." Put the same answer in your website FAQ so the message is consistent.
If a customer asks about an installation completed in 2025, the rules for that year may still matter for their tax return. Point them to a tax professional and the IRS guidance rather than giving tax advice.
Updating structured data and snippets
If your pages include FAQ markup or other structured data that mentions credits, update it along with the visible text. Search results and AI tools may keep showing old answers until pages are recrawled, so submit updated pages for indexing in Search Console after you change them.
Example rewrite
| Old wording | Updated wording |
|---|---|
| "Claim up to $2,000 back with the federal heat pump tax credit." | "Until December 31, 2025, a federal tax credit could apply to qualifying heat pumps. The IRS says it is not allowed for property placed in service after that date. Ask us about state and utility programs in your area." |
| "Save 30% with federal tax credits on geothermal." | "The federal 25D credit is not allowed for expenditures made after December 31, 2025, according to the IRS. We can talk through current options for your home." |
Keep the dated wording only where it helps. On most sales pages, removing the reference entirely is cleaner.
After you update
Once credit copy is fixed, add the date of your review to the page and note it in your seasonal calendar. Ask your office to tell you if customers mention seeing old offers anywhere, such as cached search results or third party directories, so you can update those listings as well.
Is the 25C tax credit still available in 2026?
According to the IRS, the 25C credit is not allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. Installations completed in 2026 do not qualify.
What happened to the 25D credit for geothermal heat pumps?
The IRS says 25D is not allowed for expenditures made after December 31, 2025, and an expenditure is treated as made when the original installation is completed.
Can my HVAC website still mention rebates?
Yes, if they are current. Name the program, link to its official page, date your check and avoid amounts you cannot keep up to date.
Sources
Disclosure: the owner of this site has commercial interests in web design services. This page is written to be useful whether or not you hire anyone, and it contains no paid placements.