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Harley Jacobsen Clinical Trial Participant Income Exemption Act of 2026
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income certain compensation to clinical trial participants, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Excludes compensation and reimbursed expenses for participating in approved clinical trials from taxable income for federal income tax purposes.
- Excludes clinical trial payments from being counted as income or resources when determining eligibility for federal, state, and local benefits and assistance programs that receive federal funding.
- Applies to clinical trials related to any disease or condition, not just life-threatening diseases.
- Covers payments for both individual participation and for dependent participation in clinical trials.
- Effective for clinical trial payments made after December 31, 2025.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN)
1 cosponsor
Actions (2)
- Jul 23, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
- Jul 23, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 23, 2026
Mr. Banks (for himself and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income certain compensation to clinical trial participants, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Harley Jacobsen Clinical Trial Participant Income Exemption Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF COMPENSATION PROVIDED TO PARTICIPANTS IN CLINICAL TRIALS.
(a) In General.—Part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 139L the following new section:
“SEC. 139M. CLINICAL TRIAL PAYMENTS.
“(a) In General.—Gross income shall not include any amount received by an individual as a qualified clinical trial payment.
“(b) Qualified Clinical Trial Payment Defined.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified clinical trial payment’ means any amount paid to an individual—
“(1) as compensation for participation by the individual or a dependent of the individual in an approved clinical trial, or
“(2) to reimburse or pay reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in connection with participation by the individual or a dependent of the individual in an approved clinical trial.
“(c) Other Definitions.—For purposes of this section—
“(1) Approved clinical trial.—The term ‘approved clinical trial’ has the meaning given such term in section 2709(d)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-8(d)(1)), determined by substituting ‘disease or condition’ for ‘life- threatening disease or condition’.
“(2) Dependent.—The term ‘dependent’ has the meaning given such term in section 152.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.—The table of sections for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 139L the following new item:
“Sec. 139M. Clinical trial payments.”.
(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2025.
SEC. 3. CLINICAL TRIAL COMPENSATION NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR FEDERAL PROGRAMS OR ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any amount received by an individual as a qualified clinical trial payment shall not be taken into account as income or resources for purposes of determining the eligibility of such individual (or any other individual) for benefits or assistance (or the amount or extent of benefits or assistance) under any Federal program or under any State or local program financed in whole or in part with Federal funds.
(b) Qualified Clinical Trial Payment.—For purposes of subsection
(a), the term “qualified clinical trial payment” has the meaning given such term in section 139M(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by section 2 of this Act). <all>
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