In the context of value added tax (VAT), a taxable person who makes both taxable supplies and exempt supplies is "partially exempt" and will be able to recover any VAT (as input tax) that is attributable to his taxable supplies, but not any VAT that it is attributable to exempt supplies.

The partial exemption rules are relevant where a partially exempt taxable person incurs VAT that is not directly attributable to either type of supply, for example, VAT on business overheads. The partial exemption rules operate to apportion the non-attributable (residual) input tax between taxable and exempt supplies. For more information on the partial exemption rules, see Practice note, VAT: overview: Partial exemption.