The Treasury Department today issued new guidelines, consisting of questions and answers, relating to the provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 which deny certain tax benefits for participation in or cooperation with international boycotts.

The new guidelines supersede earlier sets of guidelines issued November 4, 1976 (Treasury news release VVS-1156), December 30, 1976 (WS-1239), and August 12, 1977 (B-390). and published in the FEDERAL REGISTER on November 11, 1976, January 5, 1977, and August 17, 1977, respectively. The guidelines Issued today generally are effective for operations occurring after, requests received after, and agreements made after November 3, 1976. As qualified by the following exceptions, this effective date affords a retroactive benefit to taxpayers who can claim the advantage of any rule in today's guidelines which is more favorable than previous guidelines.