Is a New Roof Tax Deductible? 2026 Rules for Homeowners, Landlords, and Energy Upgrades

Last reviewed: October 2026.

Is a new roof tax deductible? It depends on the property the roof is on. On a primary residence, a new roof is not deductible in the year you pay for it, but it is a capital improvement that adds to your cost basis (a complete roof replacement is listed as a basis increase in IRS Publication 551), reducing capital gains tax when you eventually sell. On a rental property, a new roof is an improvement depreciable over 27.5 years as a residential structural component (IRS Publication 527). On a home office or business property, partial depreciation may apply. The two federal home energy credits that used to come up in roof conversations do not apply to 2026 work: Public Law 119-21 (signed July 4, 2025, text at govinfo.gov) ended the Section 25C energy efficient home improvement credit for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and ended the Section 25D residential clean energy credit, which covered solar roofs and rooftop PV, for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. A standard roof replacement had already stopped qualifying for 25C after 2022.

If X, then Y: how your property type treats a new roof

If the roof is on	Then	Example on an $18,000 to $20,000 roof
Your primary residence	No deduction now; add the cost to basis and keep receipts	$18,000 added to basis cuts a $280,000 gain to $262,000
A residential rental	Depreciate over 27.5 years (Form 4562, Schedule E)	$20,000 / 27.5 = $727 a year
A commercial or mixed-use building	Depreciate over 39 years or consider a Section 179 election	$20,000 / 39 = $513 a year
A home with a qualifying office	Depreciate the business-use share over 39 years	12% of $18,000 = $2,160; about $55 a year
A solar roof or attic work finished in 2026	No 25D or 25C credit; budget the full price	Credits ended after December 31, 2025

Primary residence: not deductible, but it matters for cost basis

For your main home, the IRS lists a new roof among capital improvements in Publication 523, which means it is not deductible in the year you pay for it. The cost goes into your home’s tax basis. When you sell the home, your taxable gain is sale price minus selling expenses minus adjusted cost basis. A higher cost basis means a lower taxable gain.

Worked example: you bought your house in 2010 for $300,000. You put a new roof on in 2026 for $18,000. You sell in 2032 for $580,000. Without the roof, your gain is $580,000 minus $300,000 equals $280,000. With the roof added to cost basis, your gain is $580,000 minus $318,000 equals $262,000. The $18,000 roof reduced your gain by $18,000.

The Section 121 exclusion ($250,000 for single filers, $500,000 for joint filers who meet the ownership and use tests, per IRS Publication 523) wipes out the gain in the example above, so the basis bump has no tax effect there. If your gain exceeds the exclusion, every dollar of added basis is a dollar of taxable gain avoided at the long-term capital gains rate (0%, 15% or 20% federal depending on income, plus any state tax).

Keep the receipts forever

You do not attach roof receipts to your annual return, but you need them to support your basis when you sell. Keep these with your closing documents until at least the tax year after you sell:

• Contractor invoice with itemized scope
• Proof of payment (canceled checks, credit card statements, bank transfers)
• Permit copies
• Manufacturer warranty registration
• Photos showing the work was performed

Without receipts you may be unable to prove the added basis when you sell, so keep the roof file with your closing documents.

Rental property: full depreciation over 27.5 years

If the property is a residential rental (single family rental, duplex, triplex, fourplex, or any unit you rent out), the roof is a structural component depreciated as part of the building over 27.5 years under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS). You file Form 4562 in the year you place the roof in service and the depreciation flows to Schedule E on your personal return (or Form 8825 for partnerships). IRS Publication 946 lists 27.5 years for residential rental property and 39 years for nonresidential real property.

Annual depreciation on a $20,000 roof on a residential rental: $20,000 divided by 27.5 equals $727 per year of depreciation expense, every year for 27.5 years. That expense reduces rental income, which reduces taxable income. At a 24% marginal federal bracket plus 5% state, that is $211 per year of tax savings, totaling roughly $5,800 over the 27.5-year recovery period.

Commercial or mixed-use property

If the rental is commercial (office, retail, industrial) or non-residential mixed-use, the recovery period extends to 39 years instead of 27.5. The annual depreciation drops accordingly. A $20,000 roof on a commercial property depreciates at $513 per year over 39 years.

Section 179 on commercial roofs

Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, roofs are on the list of improvements to nonresidential real property that can qualify for Section 179 expensing when placed in service after the building was first placed in service (IRS Publication 946). A commercial building owner can elect to expense the roof in the year placed in service, up to the Section 179 limit: $2,500,000 for tax years beginning in 2025, reduced dollar for dollar once total Section 179 property placed in service exceeds $4,000,000 (Publication 946). Residential rental roofs are not eligible. Confirm the limit for the year you place the roof in service, since the limit is indexed.

Home office: partial deduction

If you have a qualified home office that you use exclusively and regularly for business, you can depreciate the business-use portion of the roof over 39 years (the commercial recovery period applies to the business portion even of a residential home).

The math: home office is 240 square feet, total home is 2,000 square feet. Business use percentage is 12%. The $18,000 roof has $2,160 attributable to the business portion ($18,000 times 12%). That $2,160 depreciates over 39 years at $55 per year of business deduction on Form 8829 attached to Schedule C.

The catch: when you sell the home, depreciation taken on the business portion is not covered by the Section 121 exclusion, and the gain attributable to it is unrecaptured Section 1250 gain, taxed at a maximum 25% federal rate (see IRS Topic 409). On the $55 a year in the example, the recapture exposure is small, so compare it with the deduction before you claim it.

If you use the simplified home office method ($5 per square foot up to 300 square feet, so $1,500 maximum, per IRS Topic 509), you do not separately depreciate the roof.

Section 25C: energy efficient home improvement credit (ended after 2025)

The Inflation Reduction Act expanded and renamed Section 25C as the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit for property placed in service in 2023 and later. That schedule was originally set to run through 2032, but section 70505 of Public Law 119-21 changed the end date: no 25C credit is allowed for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. The IRS confirms the termination date in its FAQ on the law (IRS FS-2025-05) and on its 25C credit page. For work completed in 2026, there is no 25C credit to claim.

How roofs fit into 25C (for property placed in service through 2025)

Pure roofing materials (asphalt shingles, metal panels, underlayment, drip edge, flashing) are not covered by Section 25C. The credit covered specific energy-property categories: insulation and air sealing, exterior doors, windows and skylights, heat pumps, central AC, water heaters, furnaces and boilers, biomass stoves, electrical panel upgrades, and home energy audits. Roof vents and attic fans were not on the list, and a standard roof replacement did not qualify.

For work placed in service in 2023 through 2025 only, these roof-adjacent items could qualify under 25C:

• Attic insulation upgrades performed during the reroof, within the credit’s $1,200 annual cap.
• Roof-mounted skylight upgrades to ENERGY STAR Most Efficient models, capped at $600 a year under the windows and skylights category.

Neither item earns a 25C credit (up to $1,200 a year through 2025) if installed in 2026 or later. For full attic ventilation specifics, see attic ventilation. Pairing attic insulation with a reroof can still make sense on energy savings and access alone; some state and utility programs offer insulation rebates, so check what applies locally.

Cool roofs and Section 25C: the persistent myth

An older version of Section 25C (pre-2022) included a category for ENERGY STAR-rated metal and asphalt roofs with appropriate pigmented coatings or cooling granules. That provision was sunset and is no longer in the current 25C statute. Cool roofs were not Section 25C eligible after 2022, and since 25C itself ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, there is no 25C path for any roof in 2026. Salespeople still claim otherwise. They are wrong.

Section 25D: residential clean energy credit and solar roofs (ended after 2025)

Section 25D was the federal credit for residential clean energy property: solar electric (PV), solar water heating, fuel cells, geothermal heat pumps, small wind, and battery storage. It paid 30% of qualifying cost with no annual cap and was scheduled to run through 2032 before stepping down. Section 70506 of Public Law 119-21 replaced that schedule: no 25D credit is allowed for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. Under the IRS FAQ on the law (FS-2025-05; see the IRS residential clean energy credit page), an expenditure is treated as made when the original installation is completed, so a solar roof or rooftop PV system completed in 2026 does not qualify even if it was paid for in 2025.

For systems installed through December 31, 2025, integrated solar roofing products such as the Tesla Solar Roof and GAF Energy Timberline Solar shingles qualified with an important nuance: only the portion of the cost attributable to solar electric generation qualified, not the underlying roof. The IRS states that traditional building components that primarily serve a roofing or structural function generally do not qualify, while solar roofing tiles and solar shingles do. That allocation still matters if you are filing for, or amending, a 2025 return.

The Tesla Solar Roof and GAF Energy allocation

Tesla’s Solar Roof is sold as an integrated product that replaces the entire roof with a combination of active solar tiles and inert glass tiles. For a 2025 or earlier install, the active tiles plus inverter, wiring, and racking were treated as Section 25D property, while the inert tiles were regular roofing material that did not qualify for the credit (but did add to cost basis as a capital improvement).

For a Solar Roof completed in 2026, there is no 25D credit on either portion, so plan on paying the full contract price. On a primary residence, the project is generally a capital improvement that adds to your cost basis; confirm the basis treatment with your tax preparer.

GAF Energy’s Timberline Solar product works the same way: integrated solar shingles installed alongside standard Timberline shingles. The active solar portion qualified for Section 25D only for installs completed by December 31, 2025. The non-active shingles are regular roofing.

Conventional rack-mounted PV systems

A homeowner-owned PV system racked on top of an existing roof was Section 25D eligible only for installs completed by December 31, 2025, and even then the roof replacement underneath did not qualify. For a 2026 install there is no 25D credit; the roof replacement remains a capital improvement on the primary residence (basis bump only) or depreciable on a rental.

Leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs) are different because the solar company, not the homeowner, owns the system, so you have no 25D claim either way. For leased or PPA rooftop PV, the system owner may still be able to claim the commercial Section 48E credit, subject to deadlines in the same law (solar projects that begin construction after July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by December 31, 2027) and its prohibited foreign entity rules. The law’s new leasing bar (sections 48E(i) and 45Y(h)) names leased solar water heating and small wind property, not rooftop PV, but a technical correction is possible. Any benefit would show up only in the contract rate, so confirm with a tax advisor before signing.

For homeowners weighing a roof replacement before going solar, the practical advice still holds: do the roof first, then add solar, and list roofing and solar as separate invoice lines so the roof basis (or 27.5-year rental depreciation) is clean.

Casualty loss deduction: narrow window

If a hurricane, hailstorm, tornado, or wildfire destroys or damages your roof and you live in a federally declared disaster zone, you may qualify for a casualty loss deduction. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limited this deduction to federally declared disasters for tax years 2018 through 2025. Section 70109 of Public Law 119-21 made that limit permanent and, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, also allows losses from a qualifying state declared disaster.

How the casualty loss math works

The deduction equals the decline in fair market value caused by the disaster, minus any insurance recovery, minus $100 per casualty, minus 10% of adjusted gross income, as laid out in IRS Publication 547. The result is an itemized deduction.

Worked example: a 2026 hurricane in a federally declared disaster zone destroys $30,000 of roof value. Insurance pays $22,000 RCV. Unreimbursed loss is $8,000. Subtract $100, getting $7,900. Your AGI is $120,000, so 10% is $12,000. Since $7,900 is less than $12,000, no deduction. The casualty loss deduction only helps when uncovered losses are large relative to income.

If insurance covers the loss, the deduction is usually zero. For uninsured or underinsured losses, such as an ACV settlement with a large depreciation gap, the deduction can apply once the unreimbursed loss exceeds the $100 and 10% of AGI reductions. See our guide on actual cash value roof for how ACV creates uncovered losses.

Repairs vs improvements: the tax distinction

The IRS distinguishes repairs (currently deductible on rentals, not on personal residences) from improvements (capitalized). Publication 527 gives the roof example: patching a small section on one corner of a rental house is a deductible repair, while completely replacing the roof is an improvement you depreciate.

What counts as a repair

• Replacing a few missing or damaged shingles after wind
• Patching a leak with a new flashing piece
• Re-sealing a pipe boot or vent collar
• Spot replacing damaged decking under a small repair

What counts as an improvement

• Full roof replacement
• Upgrade from 3-tab to architectural or from architectural to metal
• Adding a structural component (new dormer, skylight, chimney chase)
• Replacing the entire deck

On a rental property, repair expenses go on Schedule E or Form 8825 in the year incurred and reduce that year’s income dollar for dollar. Improvements get capitalized and depreciated over 27.5 years. The de minimis safe harbor election lets you expense items under $2,500 per invoice or item (the threshold for taxpayers without an applicable financial statement), which can turn smaller capital items into current deductions.

Energy-efficient rebates: state and utility

Separate from federal credits, some states and utilities offer rebates for cool roofs, attic insulation and reflective coatings, and California Title 24 sets cool roof requirements for certain roofs. Check your own utility’s current program pages before budgeting, because programs open and close.

These rebates are not federal tax credits. A rebate that reduces the price you pay generally reduces your basis in the improvement, so tell your preparer about any rebate you receive.

What to ask your accountant in 2026

If you put a new roof on in 2025 or plan to in 2026, bring these questions to your accountant:

• For a primary residence: if any insulation, skylight, or other energy work was completed by December 31, 2025, was the Section 25C credit claimed on the 2025 return? Work completed in 2026 does not qualify.
• For a primary residence with solar: if the system was installed by December 31, 2025, was the invoice allocated correctly between solar and roofing for Section 25D? A 2026 install gets no 25D credit.
• For a rental: should the roof be depreciated over 27.5 years (residential) or 39 years (commercial), and is the building correctly classified?
• For a home office: what is the business-use percentage, and what is the depreciation recapture exposure if the home is sold within the next 10 years?
• For a casualty loss: was the loss in a federally declared or qualifying state declared disaster area, and what are the documented FMV decline numbers before and after?

For a deeper look at total roof project costs that drive these basis and depreciation calculations, see how much does a new roof cost and metal roof cost.

FAQ

Can I deduct my new roof if I work from home full time?

Only the business-use percentage of the roof, depreciated over 39 years, and only if you qualify for the home office deduction (exclusive and regular use for business). In the 12% example above the roof deduction is about $55 a year, and it creates depreciation recapture exposure if you sell.

Does a metal roof qualify for any tax benefit a shingle roof does not?

Not at the federal level for primary residences. ENERGY STAR metal roofs dropped out of Section 25C after 2022, and Public Law 119-21 ended 25C entirely for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. On rental properties both materials depreciate the same way over 27.5 years. State and utility programs occasionally favor reflective metal roofs, but those are rebates, not federal deductions.

I bought my house with a brand new roof. Does that count as a deductible expense?

No. The cost of the new roof was rolled into your purchase price and is already part of your cost basis. You cannot separately deduct it. You can deduct or depreciate only roof expenditures you make after you take ownership.

What if my insurance paid for the roof? Can I still take the basis adjustment?

Only the portion you paid out of pocket (deductible plus any unreimbursed costs) adds to cost basis for a replacement you paid for yourself; ask your preparer how insurance proceeds interact with basis under Publication 551. On a casualty loss, the insurance proceeds first offset the loss, and only the unrecovered portion is potentially deductible.

Does Section 25D apply if I lease my solar system instead of buying?

No. Section 25D only ever went to the homeowner who owned the system, and it ended for expenditures made after December 31, 2025. If you lease or sign a power purchase agreement (PPA), the solar company owns the system and you do not claim any credit. For leased or PPA rooftop PV, the owner may still be able to claim the commercial Section 48E credit, subject to Public Law 119-21 deadlines (solar projects that begin construction after July 4, 2026 must be placed in service by December 31, 2027) and its prohibited foreign entity rules. Any benefit would show up only in the contract rate, and a technical correction to the law is possible, so confirm with a tax advisor.

Bottom line

For a primary residence, a new roof is not deductible this year, but it permanently raises your cost basis and reduces capital gains tax when you sell. For a rental, depreciate the roof over 27.5 years (residential) or 39 years (commercial) and capture the annual deduction on Schedule E. For a solar roof or attic insulation, skylight, or ventilation upgrades completed in 2026, there is no federal Section 25D or 25C credit; both ended after December 31, 2025 under Public Law 119-21, so budget at full price and check state or utility programs. Keep receipts and warranties forever. Lost paperwork can mean lost basis. For homeowners weighing the insurance side of a new roof, see actual cash value roof and filing an insurance claim for roof damage. For the underlying cost research that drives these basis numbers, start with how much does a new roof cost.