By various statutes, the first, the Crown Debts Act 1541, dating from the reign of Henry VIII of England, the Crown has priority for its debts before all other creditors.
At common law the Crown always had a lien on the lands and goods of debtors by record, which could be enforced even when they had passed into the hands of other persons.
The difficulty of ascertaining whether lands were subject to a Crown lien or not was often very great, and a remedy was provided by the Judgments Act 1839, and the Crown Suits Act 1865.
Simple contract debts due to the Crown also become specialty debts, and the rights of the Crown are enforced by a summary process called an extent.
[1] In modern parlance the term encompasses the various charges and taxes made by the Government of the United Kingdom, including VAT and PAYE.