Margaret Haviland (OTCDF)
Battle Lake, MN – On Friday (September 6th), Margaret Haviland was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to two of 70 charges filed against her for tax related crimes.
In 2021, the Minnesota Department of Revenue (MDOR) learned that Haviland and her now ex-husband had not paid multiple years’ worth of income taxes, as well as having not paid the taxes for their business, Granny’s Pantry. The MDOR had sent multiple notices to the Haviland’s throughout the years, with no answer.
An investigation was conducted in which investigators found that between May 2017 and May 2022, that Haviland operating Granny’s Pantry had made approximately $894,233 in taxable sales and failed to report around $854,038 of those sales by under reporting or failing to file. According to an estimate by the MDOR, Haviland evaded paying around $55,435 in income tax to the department ($93,353 including penalty and interest). In total, she owes the State of Minnesota $174,327 for both individual income and sales tax.
Back in July, Haviland reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, where she would plea to one charge of Failure to Pay or Collect Individual Income Tax and one charge of Failure to Pay or Collect Tax.
On Friday, Haviland was sentenced to five years of probation that if successfully completed will turn the felony charges into misdemeanor convictions. She has also been ordered to pay $145,582.70 in restitution, almost $30,000 less than the MDOR estimated.
Haviland was originally charged with 5 counts of Failure to File Individual Income Tax, 5 counts of Failure to Pay or Collect Individual Income Tax, 29 counts of Failure to File Tax Return, and 31 counts of Failure to Pay or Collect Tax.