# create a "special" symlink to your "cut" command:

ln -s `which cut` ~/my_cut

# now, assuming your home directory on host1 is different from your local one,
# and you don't have a "my_cut" command in your home directory on host1:

o=`ssh host1 tail -1 /etc/passwd | ~/my_cut -d: -f3-5`
echo $o

# now with perl:

perl -e '$_=`ssh host1 tail -1 /etc/passwd | $ENV{HOME}/my_cut -d: -f3-5`; print'