February 8, 1984

For upper-income Americans who have made generous use of certain tax benefits to cut back sharply on their tax liability, there is a new threat to their pocketbooks: the vastly broadened alternative minimum tax. This tax, which is intended to make sure that the well-to-do pay a fair share of the income tax, will strike many more people this year than ever before, including some who may not consider themselves at all well-to-do. Moreover, according to tax advisers who have already made preliminary calculations for their clients, it will strike with greater force. As Herbert Paul, a New York tax attorney, put it: ''I think the American public is in for a rather disturbing awakening on how many of them are going to be affected by the alternative minimum tax.'' Nonetheless, the impact of the A.M.T., as the device is known in accounting circles, will not be as dramatic as one might infer from the anxious conversations heard in executive suites, at cocktail parties and in first-class sections of airliners.

The General Motors Corporation reported today that it earned a record $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 1983, almost nine times as much as in the comparable 1982 period, and a turnaround from three years ago, when the company was reporting losses. For all of 1983. G.M., the nation's largest auto maker, reported record earnings of $3.73 billion, compared with $962.7 million for all of 1982. In 1980, G.M. lost $763 million, its first deficit since the early 1920's. Analysts attributed the rapid improvement in the company's fortunes to restraints on the import of Japanese cars, the ending of rebates, the strong performance of its financing subsidiary and reduced labor and materials costs.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1984 The Economy Paul Volcker said ''it is already late'' for Congress and the Administration to tackle the record deficits in the Federal budget and foreign trade. The Fed chairman said the deficits endanger the economic recovery. Contention about the deficit has worried the business community. (Page A1.) Treasury Secretary Regan also warned about the threat to the recovery, and he cautioned the Fed not to be too restrictive in its policies. (D20.)

The Chinese Government is offering to store dangerous radioactive waste from European nuclear reactors in remote areas of the country in return for badly needed Western currency. The deal could be worth as much as $5.45 billion, according to one European official. Last month, China signed a letter of intent to rent storage space for nuclear waste with three West German companies active in the nuclear supply business, European nuclear officials and industry executives said today. China's prospective deal with these German companies raises serious questions relating to both the danger of nuclear proliferation and the imbalance between the industrialized and developing world. It must still be approved by the West German Government and it would need authorization of the United States if the spent reactor fuels sent to China were originally enriched in America.

The Cuomo administration said today that it would order all grain products removed from grocery shelves in New York State in 10 days and bar their replacement until the products met strict state standards for the presence of the chemical EDB. New York officials said the standards imposed would be far more stringent than those announced by the Federal Government last week. The officials said New York had delayed the action to grant the Federal Environmental Protection Agency time to adopt stricter permissible levels and avoid having varying standards around the country. In a letter to President Reagan today, Governor Cuomo said the Federal rules on EDB, or ethylene dibromide, were ''deficient.'' The chemical is known to cause cancer, alter DNA and adversely affect reproduction in laboratory animals.