Assessing officer discretion replaces automatic penalty liability, making penalty payment subject to the officer's direction under amended law. Amendment alters the mechanism for imposing the penalty by replacing automatic liability with a discretionary direction from the Assessing Officer, substituting the prior 'liable to pay' formulation with wording empowering the Assessing Officer to direct that a person shall pay by way of penalty, thereby converting imposition into an administrative direction rather than a self-executing obligation.