MoFoGeorge,

Nizac wrote...
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"within 30 days after the end of the month for which the payments to the employee were deferred" (IRS Pub. 560, p. 8)

I don't see how this condition can have any meaning for a self-employed individual. If I read that paragraph correctly, it is intended to protect an individual from their employer deducting their contributions from their salary, but then keeping it in his/her own bank account until the end of the year and only then putting it into the employees SIMPLE.

As the employer of your only employee (yourself) you have not yet deferred the payment from your "salary". It is surely only "deferred" at the point you make the payment into the SIMPLE.
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My thoughts exactly; however, I am wary of getting into trouble in an audit situation if I create the SIMPLE now. Does anyone out there know for certain whether or not I would be liable?

The SIMPLE is still too new for there to be any extensive case law or rulings. However, keep in mind that it's a salary reduction plan. You are an employee of yourself whether you like it or not. If you paid yourself, then you must have withheld your contribution, and that contribution has to be in the account within the specified period. You might want to test the DOL and IRS on this issue, but I wouldn't. That's because I'm too chicken when it comes to bureaucrats carrying big sticks.

Regards….Pixy