This article is devoted to the review of certain tax paradoxes that can be observed in the world tax practice. At the beginning, the authors give a clear definition of taxes, indicate the size of tax rates, and then compare their application in the economy of different states. Paradoxes, according to the authors, arise in the tax systems, as a rule, of those states that should be attributed rather to the rich. The conclusion of such paradoxes should be considered the uselessness of taxes in general or very low tax rates, while in very poor states, almost every year the types of property that, according to the governing bodies of these countries, are trying to pass off as luxury goods in order to collect more taxes are reviewed.