# Mental Health Research Accelerator Act of 2023

This bill creates a new tax credit to encourage companies and organizations to spend money on research into brain and mental health disorders. Specifically, it offers a 25 percent tax credit for any money spent on translational research—which means research that takes scientific discoveries and turns them into actual treatments and medications that patients can use. The research must focus on neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as well as psychiatric conditions like depression and schizophrenia.

Here's how it works in practice: if a pharmaceutical company or research organization spends $4 million on qualifying mental health research, they can claim a $1 million tax credit (25 percent of their spending). This essentially means the government is subsidizing one-quarter of their research costs. The credit is available from 2024 through 2033, after which it expires. However, there's a cap on how much total credit can be claimed each year—$1 billion in 2024, rising to $2 billion per year from 2025 through 2028, then dropping back to $1 billion in 2029. The government will allocate these credits to applicants based on scientific merit, with preference given to research that develops new treatments and devices, repurposes existing drugs for new uses, and involves partnerships between private companies and nonprofits or universities.

An important feature allows nonprofit organizations and government agencies to transfer their tax credits to for-profit partners. Since nonprofits and government entities don't pay taxes, they can't directly benefit from tax credits. This provision lets them pass the credit to a private company working with them on the research, making it easier for nonprofits to partner with industry on mental health research projects. The bill also prevents companies from claiming both this new credit and the existing research tax credit for the same expenses, though expenses used for this credit can still count toward calculating future research credits.

Mental Health Research Accelerator Act of 2023

Mental Health Research Accelerator Act of 2023 This bill allows a tax credit through 2033 for 25% of expenses for translational research regarding neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric conditions. The credit amount is subject to limitations, including an aggregate national limitation of $1 billion in 2024, $2 billion in 2025-2028, and $1 billion in 2029.