Employees working from home during the coronavirus pandemic claimed some outlandish expenses this year, including pricey exercise bikes, facelifts and private jets.
Emburse, an expense management software company, released a compilation Wednesday of some of the craziest expenses it has seen claimed this year, some of which were actually approved. That included $1,895, which was approved as a contribution for an employee's Peloton Bike under the explanation of “for health and wellness.” On the other hand, a $7,600 expense claim for a facelift was submitted under the category of “repairs and maintenance” but was rejected, despite the pressing need to look one’s best during a Zoom meeting.
Rich Gardner is principal security architect at XM Cyber. He has over 20 years of IT experience, with the last 19 years focused on InfoSec and helping telecommunications companies and financial services industry leaders in developing infrastructure and public cloud security architectures and approaching security needs with defense and offensive mindset. Prior to XM Cyber, Rich got his start in information security in 2000, at Global Crossing as a senior security architect. He also worked as a senior security consultant and architect for AT&T, consulting with customers like BNY Mellon, State of Texas, City of LA, ABC Broadcast, and Disney on several large and complex security solutions. Rich has his CISSP, CISM, CGEIT, AWS-SAS while currently pursuing other security certifications. In his spare time, Rich is a black belt in Japanese Jiu Jitsu and is a blue belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
Mathias Golombek is chief technology officer at Exasol.
Daniel J. Thrailkill, CPA, is a director in Ellin & Tucker’s Tax Department with nearly two decades of tax planning, compliance and consulting expertise with privately held business owners and high net worth individuals. He can be reached at dthrailkill@ellinandtucker.com.
Some expenses weren’t for working from home, but more about getting out of the house safely. An expense claim for a private jet charter costing over $20,000 was submitted and approved under the explanation of “required to limit COVID exposure for international shoots.” Another travel-related expense claim was $2,500 for a helicopter ride, which was not approved.
The $79 expense claim for a dog crate could perhaps be used for travel at some point when that's safer, but in these times it was more plausibly to provide "crate training [for] a new COVID puppy to not run into Zoom meetings."
Below is an infographic produced by Emburse showing this and several other head-scratching claims:
