- Tsar Peter the Great of Russia taxed those who had a beard and required them to carry medals, admitting that their beards were ridiculous.
- This next tax seems ridiculous and quite impossible for a government to convince its citizens to declare all their income to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service). That is why it seems crazy telling citizens to declare money earned from drug trafficking. The instructions for completing the tax return from the U.S. IRS claim that "illegal income, such as money from illicit drug trafficking should be included in the income statement form 1040, line 21".
- In ancient Rome a tax known as the release tax, which essentially required money from someone who was no longer a slave. There are some paradigms where the owners were forced to pay this amount, but normally the former slave had to pay 10% of his "slave" value.
- Oliver Cromwell established a tax which concerned any dispute with the king, although he wasn't a king himself, in 1655 mainly referring to the nobles within England, after he took power. Cromwell used part of this money in order to fight against several nobles.
- In England in the 14th century several taxes and poll taxes were introduced. This led to the establishment of a crazy one, imposed on everyone since it taxed everyones' existence, i.e. just because they were alive they had to pay tax for it. Many peasants revolted, making it the beginning of the highly destructive revolt of the peasants.
- The Nobel Tax. The financial rewards of a Nobel Prize are taxed by the U.S. IRS. This sounds strange, since Alfred Nobel has stated that the prize is awarded to those who have provided the greatest benefit to mankind. Someone is exempt of this tax only if the money is donated to a charitable organisation or to the government.
- Taxes on immigrants and foreigners are not at all uncommon, even in the 20th century. Canada began to tax the Chinese immigrants in 1885 and ceased in 1923. This was done in order to ban the entry of Chinese immigrants in the North American state and not because they had a sudden change of heart.
- Salt tax. This is one of the greatest examples of a problematic and reckless idea and tax in history. The tax on salt is partially responsible for the decline of the Chinese Empire, the French salt tax contributed towards the French Revolution and Gandhi took part in a protest against such a tax in 1930, laying the groundwork for a movement of independence of India from British rule.
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