On the home you live in, a new roof is generally not tax deductible. The IRS lists repairs to your home among the expenses a homeowner cannot deduct, and it treats a new roof as an improvement. What a new roof does is add to your home's cost basis, which can lower the taxable gain when you sell. The rules change if part of the home is a home office or the house is a rental: then the business or rental share of the roof is depreciated over time. The two federal home energy credits ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and the IRS pages for them do not list ordinary roofing. This page is general information from IRS publications, not tax advice. Ask a tax professional about your own return.
The short answer, case by case
| Your situation | How the IRS treats a new roof | Where the IRS says so |
|---|---|---|
| Your main home | Not deductible; added to your cost basis | Publications 530 and 523 |
| Home with a home office | The business share is depreciated, unless you use the simplified method | Publication 587 |
| Rental property | Capitalized and depreciated over 27.5 years | Publication 527 |
| Roof destroyed in a disaster | A casualty loss may be deductible only if it comes from a federally declared disaster | Publication 547 |
| Roof paid for with a home equity loan | The loan interest may be deductible if you itemize | Publication 936 |
| Energy credit for the roof | Neither home energy credit is available for property placed in service after 2025 | IRS credit pages |
Your main home: not deductible, but it adds to your basis
IRS Publication 530, for homeowners, lists what you cannot deduct. The list includes repairs to your home, homeowners insurance and depreciation. There is no line on Form 1040 for the cost of a roof on the house you live in.
The cost does not disappear, though. Publication 523, on selling your home, says you add the cost of additions and improvements to your home's basis, and its table of improvements that increase basis names a new roof. Basis is, roughly, what you have invested in the home: what you paid for it plus what you have added since.
Keep the contract, the invoices and proof of payment for the roof with your other home records. You may need them many years from now, when you sell.
How a higher basis helps when you sell
Your gain on a sale is, broadly, what you get for the house minus your adjusted basis. A higher basis means a smaller gain. Publication 523 lets many sellers exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for a married couple filing jointly, if they owned the home and lived in it for at least two of the five years before the sale and did not use the exclusion on another home in the two years before.
An illustration, with numbers of our own: a single homeowner bought a house for $300,000, later put on a $15,000 roof, and sells for $900,000 after selling costs. Without the roof, the gain would be $600,000, and $350,000 of it would be above the exclusion. With the roof added to the basis, the gain is $585,000, and $335,000 is above the exclusion. The roof has reduced the taxable part by $15,000. For a seller whose gain stays under the exclusion, the roof makes no difference to the tax at all.
One more rule from Publication 523: improvements that are no longer part of the home do not count. If you replace a roof you had put on earlier, the old roof's cost comes out of your basis. The IRS example is wall-to-wall carpet that you installed and later replaced.
Repair or improvement
The line between the two matters for basis, and much more for a rental.
- A repair keeps the home in good condition without adding to its value or extending its life. Publication 523 gives fixing leaks, filling holes or cracks and painting as examples. Repairs do not add to basis.
- An improvement adds to value, extends the home's life or adapts it to a new use. A whole new roof is an improvement.
- Repairs inside a bigger project. Publication 523 says that when work that would otherwise be a repair is done as part of an extensive remodeling or restoration of the home, the whole job counts as an improvement.
So patching a leak around a vent is a repair; tearing off and replacing the roof is an improvement. If your job falls between the two, such as replacing one slope, that is a question for a tax professional. Our guide on whether to repair or replace a roof covers the practical side of that choice.
If you have a home office
Publication 587 covers the business use of a home. If you use part of your home for business and deduct your actual expenses:
- A repair that benefits the whole house is deductible in proportion to business use. The IRS example is a furnace repair: if 10% of the home is used for business, 10% of the repair is deductible.
- A new roof is an improvement. Publication 587 names a new roof as an example of an improvement made after business use begins that is depreciated separately. You multiply the cost by your business-use percentage and depreciate that amount over the recovery period.
- The simplified method. If you use the simplified home office method, Publication 587 says you cannot deduct actual expenses of the home or any depreciation of the business part, so the roof earns nothing under that method.
If the house is a rental
Publication 527 covers rental property. It says an expense is an improvement if it results in a betterment to the property, restores it, or adapts it to a new or different use, and you must capitalize an improvement rather than deduct it in the year you pay. Its table of improvements includes a new roof.
The capitalized cost is generally depreciated as if the roof were separate property. For residential rental property, Publication 527 gives a recovery period of 27.5 years, straight line. A repair to a rental, in contrast, is generally deductible in the year you pay it.
If you rent out part of the home you live in, or rent it for only part of the year, the split between personal and rental use changes the numbers. That is worth working out with a tax professional.
Energy credits: where they stand now
Two federal credits used to reward some home energy work. Both have now ended for new work.
- Energy efficient home improvement credit. The IRS page says the credit is allowed for qualifying property placed in service on or after January 1, 2023, and before December 31, 2025. The page, last updated April 28, 2026, does not list roofs or roofing among the qualifying expenses.
- Residential clean energy credit. The IRS page, last updated July 4, 2026, says the credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. While it applied, the IRS said traditional shingles and roof trusses that support solar panels did not qualify, but solar shingles and solar roofing tiles did, because they generate electricity.
A roof finished in 2026 or later does not earn either credit. If yours was placed in service by the end of 2025, the IRS credit pages set out what qualified; ask a tax professional before you claim anything for it. Our guide to replacing a roof with solar panels covers the practical side of solar and roofing together.
You may still see "ENERGY STAR roof" in older marketing. The EPA ended the ENERGY STAR specification for roof products effective June 1, 2022, and brand owners had to stop using the label on roof products from that date.
State and local rebates, and utility programs, are separate from federal credits. Check your state's rules and your utility's programs before you count on any of them.
Storm losses and loan interest
When a storm destroys the roof
Most storm damage goes through homeowners insurance, not your tax return. Our roof insurance claim guide covers that process.
For a personal home, Publication 547 says that for tax years after 2017, casualty losses are deductible only if the loss is attributable to a federally declared disaster, with limited exceptions. Even then, you reduce each loss by $100 and the total by 10% of your adjusted gross income, and insurance you receive or expect reduces the loss. Publication 547 sets different reductions for losses in qualified disasters. When insurance pays for the roof, there may be little or no loss left to deduct.
Paying for the roof with a home equity loan
The roof itself is not deductible, but the interest on a loan used to pay for it may be. Publication 936 says interest on a home equity loan or line of credit is deductible only if the money is used to buy, build or substantially improve the home that secures the loan, and only if you itemize deductions on Schedule A. Limits on the total debt apply. Interest on an unsecured personal loan or a credit card is not home mortgage interest. Our guide to paying for a new roof compares the ways to borrow.
Frequently asked questions
Can I deduct a new roof on my primary residence?
No. The IRS treats a new roof on your main home as an improvement, which is not deductible. It adds to your home's basis, which can reduce the taxable gain when you sell.
Is there a tax credit for a new roof in 2026?
Not a federal one. The IRS says the energy efficient home improvement credit covers property placed in service before December 31, 2025, and the residential clean energy credit is not available for property placed in service after that date. Check your state's rules for any state programs.
Can I deduct a roof repair?
Not on the home you live in. On a rental, a repair is generally deductible in the year you pay it, and in a home office you may deduct the business share of a repair that benefits the whole house.
How long do I depreciate a new roof on a rental?
Publication 527 gives 27.5 years for residential rental property, using the straight-line method.
What records should I keep?
Keep the signed contract, the invoices, proof of payment and the permit. They show the cost and the date, which you need for basis now and for depreciation if the house is ever a rental.
Where this information comes from
HomeAnvil does not give tax advice. Each fact on this page comes from the source named beside it, all read on September 26, 2026. Tax rules change; check the IRS pages for the year you file, and ask a tax professional about your own situation.
- IRS, Publication 530 (2025), Tax information for homeowners: the expenses a homeowner cannot deduct, including repairs.
- IRS, Publication 523 (2025), Selling your home: improvements added to basis, a new roof in the table of improvements, repairs versus improvements, replaced improvements, and the $250,000 and $500,000 exclusion.
- IRS, Publication 587 (2025), Business use of your home: repairs, a new roof as an improvement, and the simplified method.
- IRS, Publication 527 (2025), Residential rental property: improvements, a new roof in the table of improvements, and the 27.5-year recovery period.
- IRS, Publication 547 (2025), Casualties, disasters, and thefts: the federally declared disaster rule and the $100 and 10% reductions, and subtracting insurance you receive or expect.
- IRS, Publication 936 (2025), Home mortgage interest deduction: interest on home equity loans and lines of credit.
- IRS, Energy efficient home improvement credit, last updated April 28, 2026: the dates the credit covers.
- IRS, Residential clean energy credit, last updated July 4, 2026: the end date, and which roofing qualified.
- U.S. EPA, ENERGY STAR roof products sunset letter, May 28, 2019: the end of the roof products specification on June 1, 2022.
- The sale example is our own arithmetic, with made-up numbers, to show how basis works.
We could not read USDA's page on its home repair loans and grants, so this page does not describe that program. We will update this page when these sources change, and the date above will say when.
Related guides
How can you pay for a new roof?Ways to pay for a roof: cash, contractor financing, personal loans, home equity loans and HELOCs, insurance, HUD Title I and FHA 203(k) loans, and what to check.
How much does a roof replacement cost?A roof replacement typically costs $5,900 to $13,400, or $400 to $1,100 per square installed. How to measure your roof, what moves the price and how to compare estimates.
How do you replace a roof that has solar panels?The panels come off, the roof is replaced, and the panels go back on. Removing and reinstalling them costs about $2,800 to $4,800 by one estimate, more by another.
How does a roof insurance claim work after a storm?Insurance usually pays for sudden wind or hail damage, not wear. Wind/hail deductibles often run 1% to 5% of your home's insured value. How a claim works.
Storm damage to your roof: how to tell and what to doWind damage usually starts at a roof's edges. How to spot lifted, creased and missing shingles and debris damage, and what to do in the first 72 hours.
Should you repair or replace your roof?Most roof repairs cost $395 to $1,967; a replacement typically costs $5,900 to $13,400. How age, damage, layers and repair history decide which one you need.