title: Socioeconomic and country variations in cross-border cigarette purchasing as tobacco tax avoidance strategy. Findings from the ITC Europe Surveys.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
authors: Department of Health Promotion, , Maastricht University (CAPHRI), Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Gera E
authors: GE
authors: Nagelhout
authors: Bas
authors: B
authors: van den Putte
authors: Shane
authors: S
authors: Allwright
authors: Ute
authors: U
authors: Mons
authors: Ann
authors: A
authors: McNeill
authors: Romain
authors: R
authors: Guignard
authors: François
authors: F
authors: Beck
authors: Mohammad
authors: M
authors: Siahpush
authors: Luk
authors: L
authors: Joossens
authors: Geoffrey T
authors: GT
authors: Fong
authors: Hein
authors: H
authors: de Vries
authors: Marc C
authors: MC
authors: Willemsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003132:Commerce / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004522:Educational Status; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000191:economics*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013660:Taxes / Q000191:economics*; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000191:economics*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Economics; Socioeconomic status; Taxation
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