Excerpt: The definitions of 'deferred compensation' and 'deferred compensation plan' are not intuitively obvious. But they make sense when viewed in light of the purpose of the Act, which is to prevent employees from postponing taxation on compensation that was 'deferred' while retaining broad discretion respecting the form or timing of payments. While the structure that the regulators have adopted toward this end appears well-suited to this task, it will take some getting used to.

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