Window Tint Laws in Connecticut (2026): Legal VLT Limits and Exemptions

Connecticut regulates window tint through Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-99g. Below: the minimum visible light transmission (VLT) for each window, the windshield rule, what counts as too reflective, who can get a medical exemption, and how an officer checks a car at the roadside.

Legal tint limits in Connecticut

• Front side windows: at least 35% VLT.
• Back side windows: at least 35% VLT.
• Rear window: any darkness.

SUVs, trucks and vans follow a different rule behind the driver: back side windows any darkness and the rear window any darkness.

VLT is measured through film and glass together. Factory glass already blocks some light, usually landing between 70% and 80% VLT before any film, so a roll sold as "35%" on a window that started at 75% ends up darker than 35% once installed. Officers meter the finished window, not the box the film came in.

Windshield

Transparent material that is not red or amber, only above a line 29 inches over the driver's seat (about the AS-1 line).

Federal standard FMVSS 205 sets the baseline for the glass itself: the windshield and front side windows of a new car must transmit at least 70% of visible light. State law decides what film may be added afterwards, which is why the windshield rule is usually a strip above the AS-1 line rather than a percentage.

Reflective and colored film

Film may not look mirror-like; luminous reflectance is capped at 27% on front side windows and 21% behind the driver, each plus or minus 3%. Film colors not permitted: red or amber on the windshield strip.

Medical exemptions

Connecticut allows darker tint with a medical exemption. Form E-220 with a physician's or optometrist's documentation; DMV validates it after measuring the car at its Wethersfield lane (no darker than 20%) and the permit must stay in the vehicle.

Stickers, mirrors and enforcement

A certificate or sticker identifying legal tint is required. Each aftermarket-tinted window needs a DMV compliance sticker in its lower corner, obtained at a DMV inspection lane; exempt vehicles carry the permit instead of stickers. If the rear window is tinted, the car must have outside mirrors on both sides. Infraction per offense; the driver must remove the tint and present the car to the citing police within 60 days, and a repeat citation can bring impoundment (14-99g(f)).

In practice

Connecticut's 35% floor covers the front and rear side windows of passenger cars, each with a 3-point tolerance, while the rearmost window is exempt whenever both outside mirrors are fitted. Trucks, vans and vehicles federally classed as multipurpose may darken every window behind the driver with those mirrors. Tint shops must post the standards and penalties at the counter. A 2025 bill to stiffen the penalty (HB 6701) died in committee, so the text last amended in 2007 still governs.

Sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-99g
• portal.ct.gov
• www.cga.ct.gov

Checked Nov 5, 2026. Laws change; confirm with the statute before tinting.