Corporate officer liability: officers and responsible persons can be held criminally liable for company GST offences absent due diligence. Every person in charge of and responsible for a company's business when an offence under the Act is committed, and the company itself, is deemed guilty and liable to prosecution; officers whose consent, connivance or negligence contributed to the offence are likewise liable. The same attribution applies to partners, the karta or managing trustee of firms, LLPs, HUFs and trusts. A defence exists if the person proves lack of knowledge or that they exercised all due diligence to prevent the offence. 'Company' includes firms and associations, and a partner is treated as a director.