IT contractors should expect the end of the much-maligned IR35 tax legislation, but may end up with a worse system, an expert has claimed.

In its Programme for Government, the new coalition announced that it would look to replace IR35 with "simpler measures" that do not put unnecessary pressure on self-employed people or the flexible labour market itself.

Yet these simpler measures could easily be just as unfair as IR35, which can see net earnings reduced by as much as 25 per cent, according to the chief executive officer of Contractor Calculator Dave Chaplin.

Writing in a blog on the site, Mr Chaplin expressed his hope that lessons would be learnt from the "ill thought-out" introduction of IR35 and the uncertainty that followed.

"IR35 continues to be a moving feast. So let's hope that when the bill arrives, contractors aren't the ones left to pick up the tab," he concluded.