Fears of the implications of controversial tax ruling IR35 has seen many IT contractors hiring unqualified so-called tax experts to advise them on offering payroll, invoice, accountancy and tax matters, according to SJD Accountancy.

Tge firm's managing director, Simon Dolan, said newcomers to contracting were being hurried by the fear of being caught with no ‘solutions provider’ in the event of an IR35 investigation.

But, according to Dolan, many of these advisers are not qualified to give advice.

‘Many companies now advertising as ‘tax experts’ are unqualified,’ Simon Dolan told Contractor UK.

’The person an IT contractor is likely to end up speaking to will be a salesman, whose sole job is to sell services of the company, and not the correct solution for that individual’s particular circumstances,’ he said.