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.
Christina Baker covers the Northeast for The Bond Buyer. Before that, she was an intern at The Bond Buyer via the Dow Jones News Fund. She's covered government and politics for many Pennsylvania news outlets through internships, including Spotlight PA, the Allentown Morning Call, and the Centre Daily Times.
Aaron Jacob is head of accounting solutions at TaxBit. Prior to TaxBit, he spent eight years at Chatham Financial working with the treasury and accounting teams of corporate and large financial services clients.
Nicole joined Corporate Synergies in 2007 as a Staffing Specialist in Human Resources, where she coordinated recruitment efforts that successfully developed the company's talent base. In 2010, Nicole transitioned into account management and a client-facing role, where she over the years expanded her skill set and industry knowledge.
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:
