If you're searching for a federal tax credit for your electrical panel upgrade, you're about two months late — or still in time to file for one, depending on when your work was completed. The 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, which covered panel upgrades at 30% of cost up to $600, expired on December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Work finished before that date can still be claimed. Work completed in 2026 cannot.
But the federal credit was never the only money on the table. A separate federal rebate program — HEEHRA — still has funds available in many states, with up to $4,000 for qualifying panel upgrades. And that's before state utility rebates, which are entirely independent of both the 25C credit and HEEHRA status.
If your panel was upgraded by December 31, 2025, you can still claim up to $600 on your 2025 return — but only if the work was paired with a qualifying heat pump or heat pump water heater. For new 2026 installations, the tax credit path is closed. HEEHRA rebates are still live in many states and are worth checking before any panel work begins.
The 25C Federal Tax Credit — What It Was and What's Left
The 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit was part of the Inflation Reduction Act (2022). For electrical panels, it covered 30% of qualifying upgrade costs, capped at $600 per year. It sat inside a broader $1,200 annual cap that also included windows, doors, insulation, and energy audits. The credit was non-refundable — it could reduce your tax liability to zero, but wouldn't generate a refund if the credit exceeded what you owed.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law in 2025, accelerated the expiration of both 25C and its companion credit 25D to December 31, 2025. The original IRA schedule had these credits running through 2032. That changed.
What Actually Qualified — the Rules Most People Got Wrong
The 25C panel credit was narrower than most search results made it sound. Not every panel upgrade qualified. Three requirements had to be met simultaneously:
- NEC compliance: The work had to be installed in a manner consistent with the National Electrical Code.
- 200-amp capacity: The resulting panel had to have a load capacity of at least 200 amps. Upgrading from 100A to 150A didn't qualify. Upgrading a 200A panel with a like-for-like swap did, as long as the resulting panel was rated for 200A.
- Installed with qualifying equipment: This is where most people missed it. The panel work had to be done in conjunction with the installation of qualifying energy property — a heat pump, heat pump water heater, central air conditioner, biomass stove, or furnace. A standalone panel replacement done for safety or capacity reasons, with no qualifying equipment installed at the same time, did not qualify. This rule applied equally to subpanelboards, branch circuits, and feeders — not just the main panel.
How to Claim It If You Did Qualify (2025 Return)
If your panel work was completed by December 31, 2025, was done alongside a qualifying heat pump or heat pump water heater, and met the NEC and 200-amp requirements, here's how to claim it when filing your 2025 return.
File IRS Form 5695, Part II — the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit section. Enter your qualifying panel costs on Line 25c. The maximum credit is $600 (30% of cost), entered on Line 25e.
Line 25d asks for a Qualified Manufacturer Identification Number (QMID) — and this is where the form confuses people. You're not entering the QMID of the panel; panels don't have QMIDs. You're entering the QMID of the qualifying equipment the panel work enabled — your heat pump or HPWH. Get it from the IRS registry or your equipment manufacturer's website.
On documentation: your contractor invoice needs to explicitly reference the panel upgrade, confirm it was installed to support qualifying energy equipment, note NEC compliance, and show the 200-amp rating. A generic "electrical work" line item won't hold up to IRS scrutiny. Keep the permit record too. One note on the annual cap: the panel credit's $600 maximum rolls into the broader $1,200 limit that also covers insulation, windows, and energy audits — so if you claimed those in the same year, they reduce what's available here. Heat pump credits have a separate $2,000 cap and don't affect this limit. Most tax software (TurboTax, H&R Block, FreeTaxUSA) handles the interaction automatically.
Get matched with licensed electricians who can document the work correctly for your 2025 credit claim.
HEEHRA: The Rebate Program That's Still Running
Separate from the 25C tax credit, the Inflation Reduction Act created a rebate program called HEEHRA — the High-Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Act, also known as HEAR in some states. Unlike a tax credit, HEEHRA is a point-of-sale rebate, meaning the discount comes off your installation cost upfront rather than when you file taxes. It's income-qualified, which the 25C credit was not.
For electrical panel upgrades, HEEHRA offers up to $4,000. For wiring upgrades, up to $2,500. These are among the largest individual rebates in the program. The $4,000 counts toward the program's overall household cap of $14,000, so if you're also claiming HEEHRA rebates for a heat pump ($8,000) or heat pump water heater ($1,750), plan the stacking order carefully.
| HEEHRA Rebate Item | Maximum Rebate | Income Threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical panel upgrade | $4,000 | ≤150% area median income |
| Wiring upgrades | $2,500 | ≤150% area median income |
| Heat pump (space heating/cooling) | $8,000 | ≤150% AMI; 100% rebate at ≤80% AMI |
| Household cap (all items combined) | $14,000 | Varies by income tier |
Which States Still Have HEEHRA Funds (As of Mid-2026)
As of mid-2026, states with live HEEHRA programs and available funds include Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, New York, Rhode Island, Washington D.C., and Wisconsin, among others. Several states — California being the most prominent — have exhausted their allocations. Oregon launched its program in spring 2026 and is still accepting applications. A number of states in the Southeast and Midwest are still in setup phase.
This list changes frequently as states process applications and draw down funding. The authoritative source for current status is the DSIRE database — enter your zip code and filter by "electrical" or "panel" to see what's active in your area. Your state energy office website will have the application portal if a program is live.
Utility Rebates: The Layer Most Homeowners Miss
State and utility rebates for panel upgrades exist entirely independently of the 25C credit and HEEHRA. Many electric utilities run their own rebate programs for panel upgrades, particularly when the upgrade is tied to EV charging infrastructure, heat pump installation, or whole-home electrification. These programs don't require you to have claimed a tax credit or participate in HEEHRA — they're separate applications through your utility company.
The amounts vary significantly. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) have offered residential electrification rebates through programs like TECH Clean California. Xcel Energy (serving Colorado, Minnesota, and parts of the Midwest) has offered EV charger and panel rebates. National Grid and PSEG utilities in the Northeast have had similar programs.
The fastest way to find what's available to you: call your utility company's energy efficiency line and ask specifically about panel upgrade rebates. Many programs don't have obvious web presence and are underutilized as a result. The DSIRE database is also useful here — it covers utility programs alongside state and federal incentives.
Stacking Incentives: How to Combine What's Left
The 25C credit and HEEHRA rebates could legally be stacked on the same project, as long as you didn't double-count the same dollar amount. In practice, HEEHRA reduced your out-of-pocket cost at point of sale, and then the 25C credit applied to your reduced cost — so the stacking order mattered for the math. With 25C now expired for new installations, the stacking question in 2026 is simpler: HEEHRA plus utility rebates, applied in whatever order your programs require.
For 2026 installations, the same project would not include the 25C credit — but HEEHRA and utility rebates remain on the table where funds are available. The cost guide for panel upgrades covers what to expect to pay before any incentives are applied.
For a full breakdown of what panel upgrades cost before any incentives — by amperage tier, region, and scope — see our electrical panel upgrade cost guide.
What This Means If You're Planning a Panel Upgrade Now
If your upgrade is paired with a heat pump or heat pump water heater and was completed in 2025, file Form 5695 and claim the $600 if you qualify — that money is still on the table for your 2025 return. If your project is happening in 2026, the federal tax credit path is closed, but HEEHRA and utility rebates can still meaningfully reduce your costs depending on your state and income level. In both cases, the work needs to be done by a licensed electrician who pulls the required permit — undocumented work won't survive any rebate application or potential IRS review.
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