Lift European tax, in part held up (8)
I believe the answer is:
elevator
'lift' is the definition.
(I know that lift can be written as elevator)
'european tax in part held up' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'tax' becomes 'VAT' (UK Value Added Tax).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'part' becomes 'role' (eg a theatrical role).
'held up' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'role' in reverse letter order is 'elor'.
'e'+'vat'='evat'
'evat' placed inside 'elor' is 'ELEVATOR'.
(Other definitions for elevator that I've seen before include "An American lift in building" , "Farm herd" , "An American lift - going up?" , "US lift" , "I go up" .)