Window Tint Laws in Texas
Laws change. Verify current requirements with your local DMV/RMV before choosing or installing film. This is not legal advice.
VLT is visible light transmission: lower percentages mean darker windows. A film's labeled shade is not necessarily the finished glass-plus-film reading. The limits below cover ordinary passenger cars unless stated otherwise.
- Front side windows
- At least 25% combined VLT; at most 25% reflectance.
- Rear side windows
- No VLT restriction.
- Back window
- Any VLT with qualifying outside mirrors on both sides; otherwise at least 25% VLT and at most 25% reflectance.
- Windshield strip
- Above AS-1; without AS-1, top five inches. At least 25% VLT, at most 25% reflectance; no red/amber/blue. Clear untinted UV film allowed anywhere.
Vehicle class and conditions
Measurement basis: Combined glass-plus-film visible light transmission, not the film label alone.
SUV, van and multipurpose-vehicle rear sides: No VLT restriction.
SUV, van and multipurpose-vehicle back window: Any VLT with qualifying outside mirrors on both sides; otherwise at least 25% VLT and at most 25% reflectance.
- Qualifying mirrors show roadway at least 200 feet behind.
- Darker front-side medical exception requires signed physician or optometrist necessity statement kept in vehicle; DPS no longer issues exemption certificates.
- Compliance label required at bottom rearmost corner of driver-side window. Inspection program applicability is separate from equipment legality.
Sources and verification
Official source: State police guidance. Reviewed 2026-10-29. Laws and agency guidance can change after this review.
Laws change. Verify current requirements with your local DMV/RMV before choosing or installing film. This is not legal advice.