YOUR TAXES : TAX REFORM : Gimme Shelters? : If you can find one, be happy--there aren’t too many left.

Tax shelters these days have gone the way of the California condor and 39-cent hamburgers. They are nearly extinct.

It wasn’t always that way. In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, “gimme shelter” was the cry of rich and not-so-rich taxpayers alike. No wonder: Investing in anything from windmills to avocado groves to cattle semen could let you take immediate tax deductions of as much as five times what you put in. And you could use the deductions to shelter any kind of income, including your salary, stock dividends or savings account interest.

But Congress formally ended the party with the Tax Reform Act of 1986. With only a few exceptions, traditional tax shelters such as real estate limited partnerships have lost their appeal as shelters. Losses from these investments are now classified as “passive” and can only be used to shield “passive” income from similar shelters.

Tax reform made shelters less attractive in another way: By lowering individual tax rates, the new tax laws made deductions worth less. With the top individual tax rate now at 33%--less than half the 70% top rate in 1980--each $1 in deductions saves you no more than 33 cents in taxes, compared to as much as 70 cents nine years ago.

As a result, most investments that previously qualified as tax shelters now are oriented toward generating income. You must now evaluate them on their economics--their tax benefits alone won’t make them profitable.

“There just aren’t many shelters left that you can use to shelter ordinary income,” says Fuhrman Nettles, vice president at Robert A. Stanger & Co., a Shrewsbury, N.J., company that tracks limited partnerships.

There is, however, a partial break still left if you bought your shelter before Oct. 22, 1986. In that case, you can still use 20% of losses to shelter ordinary income. But that will drop to 10% next year and then vanish completely in 1991.

And some shelters survived tax reform. They can still be used to reduce ordinary income, regardless of when they were bought.

Here is a brief rundown on those surviving shelters:

- Rental real estate. If you rent out a home, condominium, apartment or other residential building--and your income is not too high--you can enjoy one of the best tax breaks left intact under tax reform.

You can deduct losses from these properties of up to $25,000 each year against any kind of income. However, to qualify you must meet a few tests.

First, your adjusted gross income must be below $150,000. If it’s below $100,000, you can take up to the full $25,000. If it’s between $100,000 and $150,000, the $25,000 ceiling will be reduced by 50 cents for each $1 your income exceeds $100,000. If your adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000, losses must be treated as passive, deductible only against passive income.

Also, you must own at least 10% of the property. And you must make management decisions such as approving tenants, although a professional management company can maintain the property and collect rent.

These tax breaks can make the difference between profit and loss, because rental income alone may not be sufficient to cover your mortgage payments and other costs. And with rental properties, you can earn profits through rent increases and price appreciation--something many California investors are currently enjoying.

But brokers’ commissions and maintenance costs could eat away at profits. Another common risk: The possibility that your tenants may damage your property and be hard to evict.

- Real estate limited partnerships. Real estate limited partnerships--investing in office buildings, shopping centers, apartments or other commercial property--are by far the most popular form of limited partnerships. But unless they invest in low-income housing or historic rehabilitations, they generally are no longer suitable as tax shelters.

In a limited partnership, you and other “limited partners” invest money into a fund to be managed by so-called general partners. You get a share of any profits, and your losses are limited to the amount you invest. A major advantage is that you can get in with initial investment of as little as $5,000.

But with some exceptions noted below, losses are considered passive. And partnerships can lose money due to poor investments or price declines. Commercial real estate prices were often artificially inflated a few years ago when tax benefits were still generous, notes Dick Poladian, tax partner at the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co.

- Low-income housing and historic rehabilitations. These limited partnerships are the most generous form of tax shelters. That is because they offer tax credits, which reduce taxes dollar for dollar.

Both types of partnerships offer tax credits that will let you write off up to $25,000 a year from your taxable income. So if you are in the 33% tax bracket, the maximum credit you can claim is $8,250 (that is the tax you save if you reduce your taxable income by $25,000, equal to 33% of $25,000).

However, to qualify for the full credit, your adjusted gross income must be less than $200,000. If your adjusted gross income is between $200,000 and $250,000, the credit phases out by 50 cents for each $1 your income exceeds $200,000.

For the low-income housing credit, the amount of the credit depends on the type of housing involved in the project and when you place the building or buildings in service. Check with the IRS to find out the exact credit, but a typical program might offer a credit of 9% of your investment each year for about 10 years.

For historic rehabs, you generally can take more of the credit up front. The credit is limited to 10% of the amount you spend to fix up a building built before 1936 or 20% of the amount you spend rehabilitating a designated certified historic structure. To find out what buildings carry that designation, check with your local historical society or the Interior Department.

But beware: These partnerships could still lose money. So shop carefully.

And Congress may scale down the historic rehab credit to garner new tax revenues, says Sidney Kess, tax partner at the accounting firm of Peat Marwick Main & Co. Existing partnerships may be grandfathered, however.

- Oil and gas limited partnerships. Like real estate limited partnerships, oil and gas partnerships no longer work as pure tax shelters. They are subject to the same passive loss rules as other limited partnerships.

There is, however, one exception. “Working interest” partnerships still allow you to shelter all kinds of income. But in exchange, you must subject yourself to greater legal and financial responsibility. For example, you may have to put up more money than you originally invested if it is needed to finance drilling costs. Or you may be liable if problems develop, such as an explosion or greater-than-anticipated debts.

While you can insure yourself against such risks, Peat Marwick’s Kess says, these deals are risky in another way: They can still lose money. And as with real estate limited partnerships, you may have to hold your interest for several years; it may be hard to sell in the meantime.

- Retirement plans. Investments--whether savings accounts, stocks, bonds or mutual funds--can accumulate earnings tax free if placed into individual retirement accounts, Keogh plans or 401(k) company savings plans. And the money you invest may itself be deductible, provided you meet certain tests.

- Annuities and life insurance. Annuities operate like IRAs in that income can build up on a tax-deferred basis.

Certain life insurance plans also can provide various tax benefits. For example, the savings, or “cash-value” portion, of a policy can grow tax free, unless withdrawn.

However, a tax bill passed last year made some of these benefits harder to come by. For policies issued after June 20, 1988, you must pay premiums over at least seven years to qualify for certain tax breaks. Previously, you could pay a single, one-time premium and qualify.

- Series EE savings bonds. Starting in 1990, they will be exempt from federal tax under certain conditions, if proceeds are used for college education.

- Municipal bonds. Their interest income is exempt from federal tax and may be exempt from state tax too, if you live in the same state as the agency issuing the bond.

- Treasury bills, notes and bonds. They are taxable on the federal level but are exempt from state and local taxes.