Reagan may try to cut tax credits for energy

As the administration struggles to increase federal revenues without major tax increases, Monitor correspondent Peter Grier reports, it may have set its sights on closing a politically popular tax loophole - energy tax credits.

In his economy speech Sept. 24, President Reagan called for ''elimination of certain energy tax credits for businesses and individuals.'' The White House proposed canceling, among others, the 40 percent tax credit on the first $10,000 invested in renewable-energy equipment for the home, as well as the 15 percent investment-tax credit for industrial renewable-energy applications.

That request never made it through Congress.Now, with projected budget deficits yawning ever larger, eliminating some energy tax credits is again being considered, congressional and industry sources say.

''Right now, the whole (administration) is turned upside down scrambling for new taxes,'' says a congressional source, who claims it would be ''almost a political impossibility'' to get elimination of energy tax credits through Congress.