Actress Melissa Gilbert Paying Off $360,551 Tax Lien

Melissa Gilbert, who starred in the TV series “Little House on the Prairie,” is reportedly paying off a big tax lien from the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS filed a tax lien against Gilbert in February for $360,551, according to the Detroit News. She owes taxes from 2011, 2012 and 2013. She moved to Michigan two years ago from California, where she is also facing state tax liens amounting to $112,527. She and her husband, actor Timothy Busfield, who starred in the series “Thirtysomething,” moved to Michigan in 2013 after Gilbert’s divorce in 2011 from another TV actor, Bruce Boxleitner, who starred in “How the West Was Won.”

Gilbert blamed her money troubles on the recession and her divorce. “Like so many people across the nation, the recession hit me hard,” she said in a statement to the Detroit News. “That, plus a divorce and a dearth of acting opportunities the last few years, created a perfect storm of financial difficulty for me. ... I've set up an installment plan to fully pay off my debt and will continue to work as hard as I can to erase this debt and dig myself out of this hole. I am absolutely positive that I can do it.”

Gilbert has appeared in recent years on the dance competition show, “Dancing with the Stars.” She, Busfield and their two children are planning to move out of their rented home to a log house in Michigan, which Gilbert has dubbed, “our own Little House in the Big Woods.” Gilbert’s neighbors and landlord praised her to the Detroit News and she has participated in charity work since moving to Michigan.