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See https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-sponsor/401k-resource-guide-plan-sponsors-starting-up-your-plan "Effective date of plan. The plan may not be made effective earlier than the first day of the employer's tax year in which the plan was adopted. In other words, an employer may adopt the plan document on the last day of its tax year, with an effective date retroactive to the first day of that tax year, but not any earlier." A CPA firm discusses the topic of Determining When a Business Starts for Tax Purposes "When deciding to open a business, it is important to understand when a business has started for tax purposes. It is normal for a new business owner to misconstrue when the company is liable for taxes. In some cases, a business owner may believe that their company must only pay taxes when they start advertising or when the company draws in clients and begin to earn income. However, for tax purposes, the start date does not consider these factors. Normally, the start date for a business is when the business is registered. This means that a company like an LLC or a partnership is responsible for paying taxes on the date they register with a particular state. Note, however, that it may be possible for a business to choose their start date. Additionally, when registering a business with a state, a company is often required to also register with the IRS in order to receive an Employer Identification Number (EIN). A company’s EIN is used to identify the company for tax purposes. It is important to note that the start date of a business can change depending on other factors. For example, under certain circumstances, the IRS may analyze a company’s activities to determine whether they are liable for taxes." Taken together, these steps seem appropriate: The starting point is for a business first to decide what will be its ongoing tax year. Next the business should decide when its first tax year began. Then the business can decide when the beginning and ending date it wants to have for its plan's ongoing plan year. Finally, the business can decide on the beginning date of the first plan year - subject to the IRS comment above. Once the first plan year is determined and if it is a short plan year, then the rules applicable to pro-rating limits over a short plan year come into play.

But for the right price......😁

From what I've read in multiple places, IRC Section 457 does not apply to churches. Since it's 457(f) that makes amounts taxable upon vesting, I don't think you have that issue. This is a nice article albeit 20+ years old. https://www.churchlawandtax.com/stay-legal/clergy-law/nonqualified-church-retirement-plans-should-be-legally-reviewed/

Agreed. As I said, we always specify it is their decision, with the advice of tax/legal counsel. We do provide "discussion points" to educate them and for them to discuss with their attorney, with references to Code/regs. It's just that they hardly ever do. I can probably count on my fingers and toes the number of times in the last 10 years or so that a client actually has done so.

Agreed - and still boggles my mind that such plans continue to have 1000 hours and last day requirements when those are superseded by gateway and testing requirements.

I find these sorts of situations very interesting and very confusing. For a radio station, yes, you need equipment to function, but is it that equipment that is income-producing? One could argue that it is advertising revenue which is a function of artistic content rather than equipment. Dentists invest tremendous amounts of capital in their equipment, but no one argues they are not a service organization, right, because it is their knowledge and skill in using such that is income-producing? Which is why code specifically says they're professional services. I'm not saying your radio station is or isn't a service organization, just that it's so darn gray/confusing that I say sometimes you need to steer them to the rules and then punt to the client, suggesting legal counsel aid in their decision, and ultimately disclaim responsibility for THEIR decision.

It is ultimately the Plan Administrator's responsibility to send a 1099-R to any participant who received a distribution during the year. If the Plan Administrator's agreements with their service providers don't cover providing a 1099-R under a specific set of circumstances, then they should make other arrangements to have the 1099-R sent to the participant. For example, maybe their TPA or tax preparer could prepare the form, given the necessary information.