IT contractors can take comfort from the fact that an IR35 expert is joining the Office for Tax Simplification to represent contractor's interests.

Kate Cottrell of Bauer and Cottrell has joined the OTS as it looks at the different alternatives available to replace IR35 with something simpler, Contractor Calculator reports.

Ms Cottrell told the website that she was excited to be part of the project and would be keen to talk to as many IT contractors as possible, in order to be sure what the main areas of concern are with IR35.

"We will be getting out there on the road to talk to as many people as possible. We want to hear and understand what worries people," she said.

Chancellor George Osborne set up the OTS shortly after the coalition government took office, describing the existing legislation, including the much-maligned IR35, as a confusing "spaghetti bowl" of tax codes.