A governmental retirement plan must meet certain minimum benefit or contribution standards to qualify as a public retirement system. The Arizona Supreme Court held that employer-paid contributions on behalf of an employee to a tax qualified deferred compensation plan are compensation.Internal Revenue Code Section 457 provides taxadvantaged treatment for certain nonqualified deferredcompensation plans. Form 140, Form 140PY or Form 140NR). Deferred compensation refers to money received in one year for work performed in a previous year often many years earlier.