This document contains final and temporary regulations that provide income tax return preparers with two alternative means of meeting the requirement that a preparer retain the manually signed (by the preparer) copy of the return or claim. The regulations are necessary to inform preparers of the two alternatives and provide preparers with the guidance needed to comply with the alternatives. The text of the temporary regulations also serves as the text of the proposed regulations set forth in the notice of proposed rulemaking on this subject in the Proposed Rules section of this issue of the Federal Register.