Contractors want certainty about their tax affairs, one expert has claimed.

Gerry McLaughlin from ITContractor.com said contractors are just hoping that a review of the small business tax system will put to rest worries about the widely criticise IR35.

"[IR35] spawned a whole load of court cases and special and general commissioner judgments which sometimes pointed in favour of the contractors and sometimes in favour of the taxman. Many cases were pursued by the taxman at great expense," he explained.

Mr McLaughlin continued that the problem with IR35 is that the rules were very hazy and the ensuring legal cases were time-consuming for both sides.

This comes after the Office of Tax Simplification said in its Small Business Tax Review that integrating income tax and national insurance contributions would take away the need for IR35.

It continued that until these changes happen, IR35 should either be suspended with the intention of permanent abolition or improve the way it is administered by the HMRC.