June 20, 1984

In an effort to break a deadlock on this year's tax legislation, Senate conferees tonight offered to drop their major special tax cuts - including President Reagan's proposal to expand individual retirement accounts - if the House conferees would accept all the Senate's $12 billion in spending cuts, including $8 billion in Medicare. The Senate tax cuts total about $6.1 billion. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Representative Dan Rostenkowski, Democrat of Illinois, said immediately that the offer ''is the first indication that this conference can come to a successful conclusion.'' While Mr. Rostenkowski said he would reply when the conferees meet again Wednesday morning, he said, ''I think we are ready to do as much as we possible can,'' adding that the House response would be ''quite palatable.''

A 34-year-old Bronx man was charged last night with the slaying of 10 people in a house in the East New York section of Brooklyn last April, the police said. Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward identified the suspect as Christopher Thomas, of 899 East 169th Street. He said Mr. Thomas acted out of the mistaken belief that his estranged wife was having an affair with Enrique Bermudez, the owner of the house where the bodies were found. ''The suspect was placed at the scene of the crime and physical evidence was traced to Thomas,'' Commissioner Ward said at a crowded 10:45 P.M. news conference in the 75th Precinct station house in Brooklyn.

Allen Finkelson was no slouch in the law world. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1971, and made partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore - perhaps the most prestigious firm in the nation - a mere six years later. But it was not enough for him: ''I was very happy at Cravath,'' he said. ''I loved the people, but the prospect of doing what I was doing for 20 or 30 more years, without much change . . .'' he trailed off. ''Well, it was disquieting.'' So last October, Mr. Finkelson threw away the security of his hard- earned partnership - and partnership profits of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year - to become an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, now Shearson Lehman/American Express Inc.

Five years after it was bought by Avon Products Inc., Tiffany & Company is up for sale again. ''If a different owner can do more with Tiffany, and is willing to pay a fair price, then divestiture would be in the best interests of Tiffany & Company and of Avon shareholders,'' Hicks B. Waldron, who was appointed president and chief executive of Avon last September, said in a statement yesterday. Avon said more than 25 companies and individuals had expressed interest in acquiring the 146-year-old jewelry concern. Among the potential buyers are members of Tiffany's management, including William Chaney, who became Tiffany's chairman in January.

State legislative leaders announced final agreement today on a measure to require drivers and their front-seat passengers to wear seat belts in New York State. They said they planned to pass the measure Thursday; Governor Cuomo, who has called the bill ''a good idea,'' is expected to sign it. The Illinois Legislature is expected to approve similiar legislation in two weeks. The two states would be the first in the nation to require the use of seat belts.