Melissa's Taxes and Congress Run

HOWELL, Mich. (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service says former "Little House on the Prairie" star Melissa Gilbert failed to pay more than $360,000 in federal income taxes.

The Detroit News reports the IRS filed a tax lien against the actress in February and details emerged after she recently announced that her family was moving from a rented home near downtown Howell to another area home.

Gilbert blames the 2011-2013 tax debt on a stalled acting career, the economy and divorce. In a statement to the newspaper, she says that "like so many people across the nation, the recession hit me hard" and there was a "perfect storm of financial difficulty for me."

Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie" and appeared on "Dancing with the Stars," says she's negotiated a payment plan with the IRS.

That's a shame....sorry to hear that about them.  But they must be doing ok now, and are able to build their dream home along with paying the taxes back.  She'll be living right outside Howell, within the same county.  She has commented that Tim predicted that she would actually do better in Michigan financially, with more work, and they've both said that's been the case. She has been very busy and successful this past couple of years; they both have.   They are a well-loved, down to earth couple in the Howell community, which is about 40 minutes from where I live.  Here's the article about their life there and the upcoming move.  I wonder if she will be as open about her exact location for the new home as she was for her current home downtown.  I'm doubting it...had to feel like being in a fishbowl after awhile!


http://thelivingstonpost.com/melissa-gilbert-timothy-busfield-leaving-city-for-log-cabin-in-the-woods/

Our state journal article...

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/people/2015/06/12/melissa-gilbert-tax-howell/71117532/

I wonder how much Melissa earns per year in residuals from Little House.  The reruns are pretty much always on the air, so I assume it's a lot.  And it looks like the Little House actors started their show at just about the right time.  I found this online:

"The original residual agreements for television shows never anticipated the number of repeat broadcasts that some well-loved television series would eventually see in syndication. As a result, the residual payments were generally limited to about six broadcasts. This was changed in the mid-1970s, when contracts for new television shows extended residual payments without limit on the number of repeats."

Wow Rob....that would be pretty awesome to be able to rack up some decent $$ with each showing of each episode! I would love to know how much they all receive for residuals too....

Between the $$ she is saving living in Michigan, plus the work she's gotten since moving here, and the release of her cookbook, PLUS Tim's income (he has directed many TV shows), I'm guessing she will climb out this. It's such a shame this story actually broke on his birthday though. That stinks!!

I believe that's how it works.

Rob wrote:

I believe that's how it works.

OhOk!

Okay...don't know where I heard or read this but...I think Lindsey Greenbush mentioned one time that she got about $30 any time an episode ran.

Melissa should pop back in no time. She's too talented to stay in debt.

I say.....Let there be a 40th Anniversary Reunion EVERY year in Walnut Grove ! hehehe
That way they could make a little more cash by promoting their books, public events,etc.
Heck, they could even charge a 1000 dollar sit down dinner at their table...just like them fancy
politicians !    Nahhh.......just build replicas of the Little House series buildings/sets for the fans.
I would pay good money to see that !    

That's really not a lot of money compared to what other famous and not so famous people owe. I'm sure she will work something out, I had too one year, the IRS was very helpful.

What I don't get with these things, is you knew every year you owed and let it climb, it never gets better with interest, etc. She might not have made a lot with her books, etc. but I have a feeling, the money was put elsewhere first. No one likes paying taxes, but you have to do it.

I didn't know the house was rented, cute home, I liked it when she showed pictures. I'm sure wherever she moves, it will be nice, maybe a little more private. Sometimes owning a home vs renting helps a lot with taxes too.

I can't wait to see it since it sounds like my fantasy house. ; )

"It's official. We are moving. In a couple of weeks. Into our own Little House in the Big Woods. I'm serious. It's a log house in the woods!"

The follow-up conversation on Twitter featured Gilbert confirming that their new place has "a pond and a stream"; is not located in Howell, but is still in Livingston County; and that the couple will not be holding on to the house they've been living in, near downtown Howell, since 2013.

Also I would think she makes quite a lot from LHOP...Kevin Hagen always said he didn't because he wasn't "contracted" like many, which was a shame.
A quote from an article"
In a recent interview with the very bitter actor Kevin Hagen (best known as Doc Baker on Little House on the Prairie) he said he receives about $8 per week (but then he never had a contract- he said that if he'd had a contract instead of being pay for play he'd have earned well over $1 million since the show's demise"

Now, agents are much more astute, but many I feel didn't realize how the show would be loved, but it was on so long, too bad after 5 years or so, they couldn't have gotten changes put in contract.

Gin wrote:

Okay...don't know where I heard or read this but...I think Lindsey Greenbush mentioned one time that she got about $30 any time an episode ran.  

   Melissa should pop back in no time.  She's too talented to stay in debt.

littlehouselover wrote:

Also I would think she makes quite a lot from LHOP...Kevin Hagen always said he didn't because he wasn't "contracted" like many, which was a shame.
A quote from an article"
In a recent interview with the very bitter actor Kevin Hagen (best known as Doc Baker on Little House on the Prairie) he said he receives about $8 per week (but then he never had a contract- he said that if he'd had a contract instead of being pay for play he'd have earned well over $1 million since the show's demise"

Now, agents are much more astute, but many I feel didn't realize how the show would be loved, but it was on so long, too bad after 5 years or so, they couldn't have gotten changes put in contract.

I know Carrie was in the opening credits and Doc Baker wasn't, but that's messed up if it is true that Lindsey Greenbush made more from Little House than Kevin Hagen.  At the current rate the episodes are played, Greenbush would be making over $27,000 a year if her $30 per episode claim is accurate.  Melissa Gilbert probably spoke more complete sentences in the pilot movie than both Greenbush twins combined spoke during the entire series.  I would hope that Melissa Gilbert is making a minimum of $100,000 a year from reruns of the show.  

Then you have the original DVDs which Lionsgate said were generating millions of dollars annually when they acquired the rights to them back in 2007. You also have the remastered releases on Blu-ray, DVD, Vudu, Amazon, and iTunes which I'm sure are generating a good amount of money.  I'm not sure how much the actors get, but hopefully it's a decent amount.  

I just found an article that uses Friends as an example, but I'm not sure if things were similar back when Little House was made.  It doesn't give details about DVD pay, but it discusses how they are paid for reruns.  The Friends actors eventually had a salary of 1 million for every new episode they made, but when the network showed a rerun, they only made $2,500 for the first rerun.  Once it was syndicated, they made 40% of $2,500 for the first showing and then the percentage dropped for every showing until the 13th.  Once it got to the 13th showing, they made 5% of $2,000 or $100 for every showing.  

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/tv-actors-royalties.htm

Interesting article. I didn't know that's how the residual plan was structured. I always thought actors got more than they do. The article says that Lisa Kudrow has probably earned $2,360,000 in residuals for Friends. I thought she got at least that much per year!

Oh my gosh wow! Indeed that is very Interesting!. I'M sure will find away out of this debt. Hopeful she can find some kind of acting job.

Well, I couldn't find a thread that talked about Melissa's run for office in Michigan, so I figured I'd post this here. She has dropped out of the race, citing health problems:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/politics/melissa-gilbert-drops-out-of-race-for-congress-in-michigans-8th-district


Between the tax issue, plus not having been a citizen of Michigan for very long, plus a number of other reasons,  I had read the democratic party was not hopeful that she would win.

Huh. I wonder what the health issues are.

Due to physical health issues, Melissa Gilbert has dropped out of Michigan's race for the Congress. Her doctor advised her not to continue because of physicall back issues. Melissa has broken her back twice.