February 5, 1985

For many Americans, finding ways to justify writing off trips, meals, parties, a portion of the house and all sorts of other expenditures as business expenses is a challenge. And indeed, business-related deductions can be quite lucrative. But the rules are strict and the territory is a favorite stomping ground for Internal Revenue Service auditors who look for business write-offs that are, in reality, more personal in nature. But if a substantial business connection can be drawn, the cost of a trip, a night on the town, lunch at the Four Seasons or even a room in one's house may qualify for a deduction. Deductions for Employees People who run their own businesses or operate sideline businesses have greater opportunities for business deductions than do employees.But employees are entitled to deduct many types of out of pocket expenses incurred for their job or while trying to land a better one.

The United States said today that New Zealand had ''definitively turned down'' an American request for a port visit by a Navy destroyer because Washington would not say if it carried nuclear arms. American officials said the move, announced today by Prime Minister David Lange, threatened the future of the South Pacific alliance of the United States, New Zealand and Australia. The State Department said tonight that naval exercises planned next month by the three countries had been canceled because of New Zealand's action. Viewed as a Test Case The Reagan Administration had made the proposed port call a test case of New Zealand's seven-month-old an tinuclear policy and had indicated that a rejection would lead to a reap praisal of the alliance, known as Anzus.

All 250 officers in the Emergency Service unit of the New York City Police Department decided yesterday to demand transfers, the head of their union said, to protest the indictment of a fellow officer in the death of Eleanor Bumpurs. The officers - all volunteers in a special unit trained for rescue work and for dangerous situations ranging from subduing emotionally disturbed people to dealing with terrorists - called upon the city's 18,000 police officers to refuse to replace them. In another reaction to the indictment last Thursday in the Bronx of Officer Stephen Sullivan on a charge of second- degree manslaughter, the union representing police officers issued a ''Use of Force Doctrine'' on how to arrest or restrain people in situations that were not considered life-threatening. To Await Instructions The union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, suggested that officers in all the city's boroughs refrain from any action until directed to do so by a higher-ranking supervisor and that in the Bronx and Brooklyn, officers should also await instructions from a prosecutor.

Despite bipartisan criticism of President Reagan's proposals for sweeping cuts in domestic programs, his 1986 budget package is being treated more seriously than his last two budgets as a framework for squeezing Government spending and curbing deficits. The political climate is not as good for the President as it was in his 1981 heyday with Congress, top Administration officials concede. This year, they reason, his budget-slashing lacks the novelty of the first Reagan program, confronts more powerful middle-class constituencies and must carve large savings from a narrower slice of the total budget. Chance to Pare Deficit Nonetheless, Administration strategists contend that with the economy now strong and the President riding a surge of popularity, the next six months offer the best and perhaps the only opportunity for a major assault on the deficit problem in Mr. Reagan's second term. They see little prospect of major advances in 1986, an election year, and afterward as the President's lame-duck power wanes.

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is preparing to enter the videotex business in a joint venture with Chemical Bank, sources in the industry said today. The venture is also expected to include Time Inc. and the Bank of America as smaller participants. The venture would provide electronic information services, such as home shopping, news and ticket reservations, to consumers with home computers or special terminals. It is expected that Chemical Bank's Pronto home banking service would be a major part, at least initially, of the services offered.