Government regulations impose a collective cost of £80bn on British businesses, well above ministers' £13bn estimate, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has claimed.
The employers' organisation said because of the burden - which equates to 5.7% of UK GDP - business owners are spending more than a month every year filling in forms, reading advice and complying with legislation.
It called for a new approach to measuring the cost of regulation based on the experiences of real people running real companies.
No matter which party wins the general election the IoD said a culture change in government is needed with a "wholesale review" of Civil Service incentives, job evaluation and career progression. "Success in most of the Civil Service is still defined by getting as many regulations onto the statute book as possible, regardless of the cost," the group complained.
In addition, the IoD called for a change in the culture of legislating so businesses have "the freedom to operate".
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