The seven facts, each with its source
Every claim on this page is one row, quoted or paraphrased from an IRS page, with the source and the date we read it.
| # | Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | §25C terminated | "The credit will not be allowed for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025." | IRS FAQ on Public Law 119-21, IRS Fact Sheet FS-2025-05, August 21, 2025 |
| 2 | The still-claimable window | "The credit is allowed for qualifying property placed in service on or after Jan. 1, 2023, and before December 31, 2025." | IRS, Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit, page updated April 28, 2026 |
| 3 | Biomass amount | "Biomass stoves and boilers with a thermal efficiency rating of at least 75% qualify for a credit up to $2,000 per year." | IRS, Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit |
| 4 | Efficiency threshold | At least 75% thermal efficiency rating | IRS, Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit |
| 5 | Claim mechanism | "File Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits Part II, with your tax return to claim the credit." | IRS, Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit |
| 6 | Manufacturer reporting discontinued | Because of the accelerated termination, periodic written reports, including for property placed in service before January 1, 2026, are no longer required. Paraphrased, not a verbatim quote. | IRS FAQ on Public Law 119-21 |
| 7 | Federal successor program | None found on IRS primary pages, checked 2026-08-15. Absence of a finding is not proof none exists. | IRS, Home Energy Tax Credits |
All seven rows verified 2026-08-15.
The efficiency threshold, and one wording caution
The credit required a biomass stove or boiler with a thermal efficiency rating of at least 75%. That is the IRS's wording.
EPA's certified wood heater database reports its efficiency column as "Overall Efficiency-HHV (%)." The industry generally treats the two as the same number, and we are not going to tell you the IRS said "HHV," because the IRS page we read does not use those letters. If your claim turns on the distinction, that is a question for your tax professional, not for a directory.
For scale on how many appliances that threshold reaches: of the 1,438 wood and pellet models in EPA's database as of our August 15, 2026 ingest, 532 publish an efficiency figure at all, and 236 of those meet or exceed 75%. The remaining 906 publish nothing, which means neither qualifying nor disqualifying can be read off the database for them. Your manufacturer's documentation is the place to look.
What to gather
- The invoice, showing the appliance model and the installation date.
- Documentation of the efficiency rating, from the manufacturer. This was the manufacturer's certification statement during the credit's life.
- Proof of when it was placed in service, which is generally when the installation was completed and the appliance was ready for use, not when it was delivered.
- The tax year that matches. The credit belongs to the year the appliance was placed in service.
If you claimed it already, there is nothing more to do. If you did not, and the appliance was placed in service in the window, this is worth a conversation with whoever prepares your return. Up to $2,000 is a large enough number to be worth one phone call.
What is gone, plainly
For anything placed in service in 2026 or later, there is no federal 25C credit for a biomass stove. We checked the IRS home energy credits pages for a successor program and found none. Many manufacturer, dealer, and even state agency pages still advertise the 30% federal credit as though it were live. One state agency page we verified for a different figure was still doing so as of our check.
If a dealer quotes you a 2026 install with a federal tax credit factored into the price, that part of the quote is wrong. State and local programs still exist in eight states we verified, and our incentives guide has each one with the administering agency's own page.
Methodology and freshness
Source: IRS primary pages only, quoted where the wording is decisive and marked as paraphrase where it is not. Seven facts, each carrying its own source URL, publisher, source date, and the date we verified it. Nothing on this page is sourced to a secondary summary. The credit's repeal was cross-confirmed at more than one independent source before publication. Refresh cadence: quarterly, and immediately on any IRS guidance update or federal legislative change.
Corrections: if a quotation here does not match the current IRS page, tell us and we will correct it the same day.
This page is a reference directory, not tax or legal advice. Eligibility depends on facts this page does not know. Confirm with a tax professional before relying on anything here. We do not sell, install, or service stoves and we do not arrange installation work.