The underdeveloped resource-rich region in China refers to the underdeveloped region with abundantnatural resources. The problem for these regions sustainable development cannot be negligible for its particularity innatural resources and environment. This paper mainly examines the issue about resource tax reform and the sustainabledevelopment of underdeveloped resource-rich regions. It first expatiates on regional characteristics of underdevelopedresource-rich regions, then analyzes the effect that resource tax has on the sustainable development of this type of regions,takes Yulin City as example to illuminate the negative influence on the sustainable development of those regions due to thedesign limitation of the existing resource tax, and put forward some suggestions, including to delegate tax legislativepower to lower levels, to increase resource tax rate, to expand its levied scope to give play to the potential main tax to localrevenue, to improve the design of resource tax, to enhance the its function of resource saving and environmentalprotection, to attach importance to regional interest of underdeveloped resource-rich regions and to improve of theinterest distribution system concerning the tax system and resource exploitation.