When we put the Hamiltonian $H$ in an exponential like this, we are not assuming the $H$ represents a scalar value. The exponential notation used in this case is just shorthand for the Taylor series equivalent for the exponential function:
$e^{-iHt} \equiv 1 + (-iHt) + \frac{(-iHt)^2}{2!} + \frac{(-iHt)^3}{3!} + \cdots$
In many contexts we treat $H$ as a matrix, which means we are then dealing with powers of the matrix $H$.
If you think of $H$ as the sum of two matrices, one each for $T$ and $V$, and then substitute them into the power series shown above, you will have to compute powers of $T+V$. When you do this, you have to remember that matrices don't commute in general, so the order of the terms matters. Because they don't commute in general, you cannot simply assume that every term in the Taylor series can be condensed down to some complex number multiplied by powers of $T$ and $V$ like $T^nV^m$. Terms might look more like $TVT^2V$, etc. Until you are familiar with it, it's tempting to try and use this shorthand the way we did in calculus for real/complex areguments. However, since the exponent may involve quantities whose products don't commute, we cannot say that the exponential involving $H$ is equal to the product of an exponential involving $T$ and another exponential involving $V$.