The paper summarises the possibilities of studying the tax burden on the Czech countryside in 1780–1850. For its analysis it proposes to use the archival collection ‘Contribution Funds’, consisting of individual schedules for the planned contributions (so-called sub-repartitions), and contributory accounts recording all receipts and outlays. Due to the limited ‘sub-repartition’ for land tax only, it recommends to use the sums in the contributory accounts and to work with values for the whole estate. The most suitable comparative figures are grain prices, preserved from commodity prices that are important for the rural environment in the most comprehensive price ranges. Both series of numbers need to be subjected to source criticism (the most important for the period under review is the variability of the currencies used) and then compared with each other.