How did Maria Theresa’s tax reforms provide a more reliable income for the monarchy?

Maria Theresa’s tax reforms provided a more reliable income for the Habsburg monarchy by shifting the negotiation process for tax contributions from an annual basis to a decennial one.

Before these reforms, the monarchy relied on crown lands governed by estates—parliamentary bodies representing the nobility, the church, and the towns—which negotiated tax amounts with the ruler every year. Following the advice of Friedrich Wilhelm, Graf von Haugwitz, Maria Theresa mandated that these negotiations occur only every 10 years. By setting the tax contribution amount for an entire decade, the central government secured a steady, predictable income that allowed for the creation of reliable budgets.12

This change not only stabilized state finances but also significantly eroded the political influence of the provincial diets, as they lost the leverage they previously held through annual tax negotiations.12