FRANKFURT: The western German state of Hesse, home to Frankfurt, has set up a toll-free hotline and website – both in English – aimed at handling tax queries from finance professionals considering a move in the age of Brexit.

“Do you have any initial questions regarding your income tax matters – and in English? Then you have come to the right place!” the website, gofrankfurttax.com, welcomes visitors on its homepage, which is illustrated with a banner of the Frankfurt skyline.

The English-language hotline is free for anyone calling from Germany or Britain. Hesse’s Finance Minister Thomas Schaefer also invites prospective migrants for face-to-face conversations with his tax experts.

The state has been working hard to market itself as a home to the financial industry following Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Wall Street banks Morgan Stanley and Citigroup both said last week they were going to establish their EU trading headquarters in Frankfurt to ensure they could still serve customers in the bloc after Brexit.

“German tax law is a challenge even for Germans,” said Bernadette Weyland, state secretary in the Hesse finance ministry. “Those who come from another country are sure to have even more questions.”

International banks that have said they would set up subsidiaries in Frankfurt include Mizuho Financial Group, Nomura, Daiwa Securities, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Britishlender Standard Chartered.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2017