Texas Window Tint Law 2026

Texas is unusual in attaching a real percentage to the windshield band rather than leaving it unmeasured — Colorado permits fully nontransparent material there, and Wyoming, South Carolina and Oklahoma set no figure at all. All four conditions in (b)(1) are cumulative: 25% transmission in combination with the windshield, 25% or less luminous reflectance, not red, blue or amber, and within the AS-1/five-inch band. NET_ASSEMBLY basis, stated in the operative text: the exceptions in (b)(1) and (b)(2) measure the sunscreening device "in combination with the windshield" and "in combination with the vent or window". Texas never rates the film alone, so a 25%-rated film over factory-tinted glass falls outside the exception. Structural note: this is an EXCEPTION, not a limit. (a) makes it a misdemeanour to place on or attach to the windshield or side or rear window "a transparent material that alters the color or reduces the light transmission", and (b) then lists what (a) does not reach. A configuration matching no (b) exception is an offence rather than an unregulated case.

Texas takes the more restrictive of the two measures, as Oklahoma and Wyoming do — the inch figure competes with the AS-1 line rather than serving as a fallback when the marking is absent. Contrast the District of Columbia, which recites the same pair with a plain "or".

Two other (b) exceptions can reach the windshield and should not be mistaken for a tint allowance: (b)(11) preserves "a window that has a United States, state, or local certificate placed on or attached to it as required by law", and (b)(13) exempts glazing that complies with federal standards, "including a factory-tinted or a pretinted window installed by the vehicle manufacturer, or a replacement window meeting the specifications required by the vehicle manufacturer".

The figure itself is in (b)(2)(A), "a light transmission of 25 percent or more", paired with the 25% reflectance ceiling in (b)(2)(B). The scope phrase is worth reading closely — "to the left or right of the vehicle operator" marks the boundary at the OPERATOR, which is what makes (b)(2-a) exempt everything behind. NET_ASSEMBLY basis, stated in the operative text: the exceptions in (b)(1) and (b)(2) measure the sunscreening device "in combination with the windshield" and "in combination with the vent or window". Texas never rates the film alone, so a 25%-rated film over factory-tinted glass falls outside the exception. Structural note: this is an EXCEPTION, not a limit. (a) makes it a misdemeanour to place on or attach to the windshield or side or rear window "a transparent material that alters the color or reduces the light transmission", and (b) then lists what (a) does not reach. A configuration matching no (b) exception is an offence rather than an unregulated case.

Measured "in combination with the vent or window" like the transmittance figure, so unlike Oklahoma and Wyoming — which measure transmittance on the assembly but reflectance on the film — Texas keeps both on the finished window. The identical 25% ceiling governs the windshield band under (b)(1)(B).

This is a materially weaker instrument than it looks and the difference matters to anyone relying on it. Texas requires no application, issues no certificate, names no physician or optometrist, and sets no alternative percentage — compare Oklahoma and Wyoming, where a state official issues an exemption in advance on a physician's attestation, or South Carolina, where a physician's affidavit is carried in the vehicle. A Texas driver invoking (e) is still stopped, still cited, and raises the defense afterwards. The defense does reach a vehicle carrying an affected PASSENGER, not only the driver.

The label duty and its penalty live in two places. §547.609 states the label's content and placement; §547.613(a-1) creates the offence, providing that a person in the business of applying such material "commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000" if they apply it and "does not install a label that complies with Section 547.609 between the transparent material and the windshield or side or rear window of the vehicle, as applicable." Separately, §547.613(c) requires that "A manufacturer shall certify to the department that the sunscreening device made or assembled by the manufacturer complies with the light transmission and luminous reflectance specifications established by Subsection (b)" — a certification running to the state, distinct from the label running to the vehicle.

BLUE is the outlier. Montana, Wyoming and South Carolina all bar red, yellow and amber; Colorado and Oklahoma bar red and amber. Texas is the only jurisdiction extracted so far that names blue, and it does not name yellow. The bar sits inside the (b)(1) windshield exception, so it does not reach the side or rear glass directly.

Texas states the mirror duty with a performance specification — a 200-foot rearward view — where Wyoming and South Carolina simply require one mirror on each side. Oklahoma uses the identical 200-foot formulation in its pre-1996 exception, which is a strong sign both trace to the same model provision. The duty attaches only to the rear window; the rear side windows are exempt under (b)(2-a) with no mirror requirement.