The history of tax liens dates back to around 300 BC during the expansion of the Roman Empire. In order to stabilize revenues, private citizens were able to purchase the right to collect taxes on a particular region, guaranteeing a regular payment stream in return, and pocketing the difference.Despite widespread abuses (tax collectors would forcibly confiscate property from farmers unable to pay taxes because of bad harvests), the practice of private tax collection spread throughout the known world. The system survived the Dark Ages and the Renaissance even finding a home in feudal England. From there it crossed over the Atlantic into colonial America and was common practice in the early 1800s.
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