Florida's up-to-$500 impact window refund, explained
Here is the current state of Florida's tax benefit for impact windows, dated July 2026: you pay sales tax at purchase, and eligible homestead owners can claim a refund of up to $500 from the Florida Department of Revenue on qualifying impact-resistant windows, doors, and garage doors purchased between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2029 (HB 7031, 2026 legislative session). The older point-of-sale program many pages still describe ended June 30, 2024. This guide covers who qualifies, how the claim works, and how to keep the paperwork so the refund is a formality.
Who qualifies
- A site-built home (not a condominium unit, mobile home, or commercial property).
- A Florida homestead exemption on the property.
- A just value of $700,000 or less on the county property roll.
- Qualifying products: impact-resistant windows, doors, and garage doors rated for wind and wind-borne debris under the current test standards, purchased July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029.
The cap is per residence: up to $500 of the sales tax you actually paid, once, not per window or per year. Refund applications are filed with the Florida Department of Revenue through September 30, 2029, and the DOR is required to process approved refunds within 30 days.
How to make the claim painless
- 1 Get an itemized invoice: products listed as impact-resistant with their ratings or approval numbers, and the sales tax shown as its own line.
- 2 Keep the product approval numbers from your permit file with the invoice; the same documents also feed your OIR-B1-1802 wind mitigation form (the wind mitigation guide explains that chain).
- 3 File the DOR application after purchase, within the window that closes September 30, 2029, using the current forms and instructions from floridarevenue.com .
What expired, and why pages disagree
From July 2022 through June 2024, Florida ran a point-of-sale program (established under FL DOR TIP 22A01-07) that removed sales tax on qualifying impact windows at the register. It expired on June 30, 2024, and for two years there was no state benefit at all. The 2026 legislature replaced it with this refund, which works differently in every way that matters: capped at $500, homestead-limited, and claimed after purchase rather than applied at sale. A large share of window marketing pages were written during the exemption years and never updated, which is why you will still find the old program described in the present tense. Date the page you are reading; this one is dated in its first paragraph.
Where the refund fits in the project math
On a $12,000 to $25,000 whole-home project (the common 2026 band in the cost guide ), $500 is a gesture, not a driver. The recurring money is the insurance side: the FS 627.0629 credits that apply once the openings are documented. Treat the refund as found money on a project justified by the protection and documentation , and let the eligible-income My Safe Florida Home grant tier ( mysafeflhome.com ) carry the heavy offset where it applies.