FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, August 25, 2017
CONTACT: Sara Rabern (605) 773-3215
PIERRE, S.D. – Attorney General Marty Jackley announced that Gerald C. Henry, 71, Pelican Lake, MN, pled guilty and was sentencing today in the 6th Circuit Court for two counts of failure to pay sales tax.
Henry, who owns and operates Henry Building Systems Inc., a business that manufactures, sells, and building prefab steel buildings out of Pelican Lake, admitted that he on several occasions sold South Dakota residents his product without a sales tax license and without paying the required South Dakota sales and excise taxes.
“While no one likes to pay taxes it is necessary and important that all businesses operate under the same rules. It was clearly unfair for Mr. Henry to manufacture and sell steel buildings in South Dakota, without paying the required sales and excise taxes, while competing with South Dakota manufacturers who had obtained sales tax licenses and remitted what was due to the state.
Henry pled guilty to two counts of failure to pay sales tax and was sentenced to one year in jail on each count to be served concurrently; the jail term was suspended and was placed on unsupervised probation for 5 years and $60,000 in restitution to the South Dakota Department of Revenue.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the South Dakota Department of Revenue and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
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