Copper taking council tax from clergymen (7)
I believe the answer is:
curates
'clergymen' is the definition.
(I know this)
'copper taking council tax' is the wordplay.
'copper' becomes 'cu' (Cu is the chemical symbol for copper).
'taking' says to put letters next to each other.
'council tax' becomes 'rates' (I've seen this before).
'cu'+'rates'='CURATES'
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for curates that I've seen before include "clerical workers" , "Clerics" , "As ministry assistants" , "Vicars' seconds" , "Members of the clergy" .)