Personal liability for association sales tax depends on statutory liability and proved partner status, not mere membership.

Personal liability for sales tax assessed against an association does not arise merely from membership; it depends on the governing statute. Joint and several liability under the relevant rule applied only where the person was shown to be a partner, and the record contained no finding supporting that status. The statutory definition of "dealer" did not make every member personally answerable for tax assessed against the association, which remained recoverable from its property. The text also notes that the petitioner was not shown to hold the relevant position during the assessment periods.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner could be made liable for sales tax assessed against the syndicate on the footing that he was either a partner of the assessee body or a person comprised within the expression "dealer" under the governing sales tax law.

Analysis: The liability to pay tax assessed against the syndicate depended upon the statutory scheme. Rule 39(1) made a dealer and his partner or partners jointly and severally responsible, but that rule could apply only if the petitioner was shown to be a partner. The orders challenged contained no finding that he was a partner, and the record did not support such a conclusion. The definition of "dealer" in section 2(d), including the explanation covering associations that sell or supply goods to members, did not make every member personally liable for the tax assessed against the association. The assessee remained the syndicate, and the tax was recoverable from its property. In any event, the petitioner was not shown to have been in the relevant position during the assessment periods, because he became president only later.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not liable for the tax assessed against the syndicate, and the impugned recovery orders could not stand.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the orders of the Excise and Taxation Commissioner and the Financial Commissioner were quashed.

Ratio Decidendi: Personal liability for sales tax assessed against an association cannot be fastened on a member unless the statute expressly so provides or the person is shown to fall within the category of persons made jointly and severally liable, such as a partner under the relevant rule.

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