RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border cigarette purchasing as tobacco tax avoidance strategy. Findings from the ITC Europe Surveys JF Tobacco Control JO Tob Control FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP i30 OP i38 DO 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2012-050838 VO 23 IS suppl 1 A1 Gera E Nagelhout A1 Bas van den Putte A1 Shane Allwright A1 Ute Mons A1 Ann McNeill A1 Romain Guignard A1 François Beck A1 Mohammad Siahpush A1 Luk Joossens A1 Geoffrey T Fong A1 Hein de Vries A1 Marc C Willemsen YR 2014 UL http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/23/suppl_1/i30.abstract AB Background Legal tobacco tax avoidance strategies such as cross-border cigarette purchasing may attenuate the impact of tax increases on tobacco consumption. Little is known about socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border purchasing. Objective To describe socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border cigarette purchasing in six European countries. Methods Cross-sectional data from adult smokers (n=7873) from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Surveys in France (2006/2007), Germany (2007), Ireland (2006), The Netherlands (2008), Scotland (2006) and the rest of the UK (2007/2008) were used. Respondents were asked whether they had bought cigarettes outside their country in the last 6 months and how often. Findings In French and German provinces/states bordering countries with lower cigarette prices, 24% and 13% of smokers, respectively, reported purchasing cigarettes frequently outside their country. In non-border regions of France and Germany, and in Ireland, Scotland, the rest of the UK and The Netherlands, frequent purchasing of cigarettes outside the country was reported by 2–7% of smokers. Smokers with higher levels of education or income, younger smokers, daily smokers, heavier smokers and smokers not planning to quit smoking were more likely to purchase cigarettes outside their country. Conclusions Cross-border cigarette purchasing is more common in European regions bordering countries with lower cigarette prices and is more often reported by smokers with higher education and income. Increasing taxes in countries with lower cigarette prices, and reducing the number of cigarettes that can be legally imported across borders could help to avoid cross-border purchasing.