Section 179 cannot fasten unrecovered company tax on a director...

Section 179 cannot fasten unrecovered company tax on a director of an unlisted public company merely because shareholding is concentrated or shares were not publicly offered. Public or private status depends on the Memorandum and Articles of Association; lifting the corporate veil requires exceptional facts, which were absent. Liability also requires a finding that non-recovery was attributable to the director's gross neglect, misfeasance or breach of duty, assessed against the director's role in the non-recovery. Reliance on an undisclosed adverse statement while disregarding relevant material from the director breached natural justice. The order imposing the company's tax liability on the director was quashed.