Cheers rulers providing income (7)
I believe the answer is:
takings
'income' is the definition.
(I know that takings is a type of income)
'cheers rulers' is the wordplay.
'cheers' becomes 'ta' (both can informally mean thank you).
'rulers' becomes 'kings' (king is a kind of ruler).
'ta'+'kings'='TAKINGS'
'providing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for takings that I've seen before include "gold received?" , "Cash receipts" , "What's in the till" , "Monetary receipts" , "Income from transactions" .)