February 3, 1982

Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger informed Congress today that the Reagan Administration planned to ask for a 1983 military budget of nearly $260 billion in appropriations, or $10 billion more than previously expected, according to Administration and Congressional officials. Mr. Weinberger, in a closed session with the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said that the Administration p lanned that actual military spen ding for the fiscal year starting in October would total$216 billion, which was expected. The officials, who declined to be identifie d because the session was held in President Reagan is ''lukewarm'' to his own withholding tax plan, according to Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan. Page D1. secret, said the increase in military appropriations to be requested next week had come from more realistic assessment of the rate of inflation.

THERE seems to be no limit to the number of ways and places in which Americans take their meals: in bed, at coffee-shop counters, while sandwiched between other passengers on commuter trains, from brown bags at their desk. They eat chili to the twang of country and Western music and hamburgers that are served by waitresses on roller skates. They dine at drive-ins where plastic trays are fixed to their car windows and in restaurants where the lights are so dim that flashlights are needed to read the menu. At home, meals often turn into a sort of relay race, the freezer's treasures being consumed in front of the television set by one family member at a time. Considering that diversity of setting, one might ask, just how much does ambiance affect th e enjoyment of food? D oes the atmosphere of anelegant restaurant enhance the pleasure of wh at is eaten there? Does it really matter if we are watching the news, reading a book, having an argument or listening to classical music w hile we dine?

The Internal Revenue Service takes an expansive view of income, and requires that just about everything from bartered goods, salary and wages to lottery prizes and even kickbacks be reported on a tax return. But new provisions in the law double the amount of di vidend income that i nvestors can exclude on their 1981 returns, and allow people to she lter their interest income in two new ways. The general rule is that taxpayers must include all payments for services rendered, including such items as severance pay, union strike benefits and under-the-t able commissio ns. Gambling victories must be reported (losses can be deducted as a n itemized deduction, but only up to the amount of winnings), and s o must illegal income such as embezzled funds. Alimony and separate maintenance payments are considered income, but child support paym ents are not. Taxpayers must also list a certain portion of their income from investments, such as stock dividends or interest on bank savings accounts. The amount and type of investment income that can be excluded this year has been liberalized as a result of the 1980 Windfall Profit Tax Act.

An article in Metropolitan Report on Thursday about the reassignment of judges to Criminal Court incorrectly described the status of Judge Irving Lang. He is serving temporarily in Criminal Court and will be eligible to return to the Supreme Court as an act- ing justice on Jan. 1, 1985.

"I am not about to lay out a litany of actions that may or may not take place.