The Memorial University of Newfoundland Students’ Union (MUNSU) has gone to court to avoid paying taxes the City of St. John’s want to collect from them, but from which  MUNSU believes they are exempt.

MUN campus newspaper the Muse reported that while no exact figures are available for the amount MUNSU could be liable to pay due to privacy laws, the city could be seeking more than $500,000 in back taxes. This is an issue that has been inherited by the current administration and has been several years in the making, according to the Muse.

The conflict seems to be one over the wording of the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) Act.

Under this Act, the university is not required to pay any municipal taxes.

MUNSU claims that they are an “affiliated institution” under the MUN Act and hence should also be exempt from paying municipal taxes, according to the Muse.

“We have been in negotiations with MUNSU since earlier this year,” said Linda Bishop, senior legal counsel for the City of St. John’s.

“We do intend to collect taxes from the union next year and are awaiting the court’s verdict.”

The city contends that some of MUNSU’s activities, like the MUNSU office and the Copy Centre, are subject to commercial business tax since MUNSU is an independent entity not registered as a charity, Bishop said.

The city also claims that the Breezeway, a MUNSU-run bar, is subject to business tax like any other bar in the city, as well as property tax as MUNSU rents out the space for non-educational purposes, she said.

MUNSU and the city appeared in court on Sept. 20, with representatives from Memorial University also present, said MUN associate communications director Ivan Muzychka.

“When the University Act, our governing act for the university, is being discussed in court, it is important the university be involved to ensure that the university is protected as its act is being discussed,” Muzychka said.

Muzychka said it was not up to Memorial to agree or disagree with MUNSU’s stand.

“MUNSU is a separately incorporated entity, with its own statute, that is in tax court with the city,” he said.

MUN itself is not liable for paying any amount, Muzychka said.

No one from MUNSU could be reached for comment.