There is no federal Hunter Douglas tax credit available for purchases made in 2026 or later, and even for earlier purchases the IRS has stated that window treatments do not qualify for the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit under Section 25C. The credit itself was terminated by federal legislation signed on July 4, 2025, ending eligibility for any property installed after December 31, 2025.1Internal Revenue Service. FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D Under Public Law 119-21 Separately, in January 2025 the IRS said in plain terms that window treatments do not meet the credit’s eligibility requirements at all.
Why the IRS Says Window Treatments Do Not Qualify
On January 17, 2025, the IRS published a FAQ addressing window treatments directly. The agency stated that expenditures for window treatments, including blinds, shutters, and tinting, are not eligible for the credit. The reasoning: window treatments do not meet the prescriptive criteria of the International Energy Conservation Code, and they do not fit into any of the three categories of property the statute covers.2Internal Revenue Service. Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit – Qualifying Expenditures and Credit Amount
Those three eligible categories were building envelope components (insulation, exterior windows, exterior skylights, and exterior doors), residential energy property (heat pumps, biomass stoves, and similar equipment), and home energy audits.3Internal Revenue Service. Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit The Form 5695 instructions for 2025 list qualifying building envelope components as insulation materials, air sealing materials, exterior windows and skylights, and exterior doors. Interior window shades are not on that list.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5695 The IRS does not treat interior window coverings as insulation or as exterior windows, regardless of the insulating properties a manufacturer claims for them.
The Duette Honeycomb Shades Marketing Conflict
Hunter Douglas actively marketed certain Duette Honeycomb Shades as qualifying for the Section 25C credit through 2025. The company published a downloadable Manufacturer’s Certification Statement, and authorized dealers promoted the credit as covering 30% of the purchase price up to $1,200 per year. Hunter Douglas positioned the shades as insulation products rather than window products, which would have placed them under the $1,200 annual cap for insulation instead of the $600 sub-limit for exterior windows and skylights.
The January 2025 IRS FAQ conflicts directly with that positioning. Although the FAQ names blinds, shutters, and tinting as examples, its broader statement that window treatments fail the IECC prescriptive criteria and fall outside every eligible category applies to honeycomb shades on the same reasoning.2Internal Revenue Service. Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit – Qualifying Expenditures and Credit Amount A manufacturer’s certification statement does not override IRS guidance about which categories of property Congress made eligible.
The Credit Was Terminated After 2025
The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit had been extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 through December 31, 2032.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 25C – Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit That end date was pulled forward by seven years. The “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” (Public Law 119-21), signed July 4, 2025, terminated the credit for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025.1Internal Revenue Service. FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W, and 179D Under Public Law 119-21
No replacement credit for residential energy-efficient improvements has been enacted. Window treatments bought in 2026 or later carry no federal tax credit under this program, and neither does any other home improvement that would previously have qualified.
If You Bought Hunter Douglas Shades in 2025
If you purchased Duette Honeycomb Shades in 2025 based on Hunter Douglas’s marketing and have not yet filed your 2025 return, the IRS position from January 2025 is the material fact to weigh. The credit is claimed on Form 5695, Part II, and the 2025 return is due April 15, 2026.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 5695 Claiming a credit the IRS has publicly said does not apply to window treatments carries audit risk, and a manufacturer’s certification will not resolve that dispute in your favor if the agency questions the return. A tax professional can walk you through the exposure before you decide.
If you installed genuinely qualifying property in 2025, such as exterior windows, insulation, or a heat pump, that credit still applies to the 2025 tax year. Keep purchase receipts, installation records, and any ENERGY STAR or National Fenestration Rating Council labels with your files.6Internal Revenue Service. How to Claim an Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit – Exterior Doors, Windows, Skylights and Insulation Materials