We present self-consistent calculations for the electronic and optical properties of tin dioxide, SnO 2 , in the rutile structure and SnS and SnSe in their orthorhombic structures. The calculations were performed within the local density approximation (LDA) using the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW). We determined the calculated electronic band structure, as well as the density of states which are in good agreement with experiments and other calculations. Furthermore, the dielectric tensor and the absorption coefficient are calculated and compared with the available measurements. For SnO 2 , the calculated absorption coefficient is in good agreement with the experimental data. For SnS and SnSe compounds, no optical data are available for comparison.