Owners of commercial, industrial and railroad properties in Iowa that want to take advantage of a new property tax credit have less than a week to file for the 2013 tax year.

Applications for the Business Property Tax Credit must be filed by Jan. 15 to be applied to 2013 property tax assessments, the Iowa Department of Revenue said in a release. Applications received after Jan. 15 will be considered for the 2014 assessment year.

Once the initial application has been received and the credit allowed, property owners do not need to apply again unless the ownership or classification of all or part of the property unit changes.

The tax credit is a component of a property tax reform package signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad in June 2013, which appropriated $50 million for the tax credit fund. The Legislative Services Agency estimates that the maximum first-year credit amount will be approximately $523 per property unit. For more information on the Business Property Tax Credit, visit the department’s website