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.
Kathleen Quinn Votaw is CEO of TalenTrust.
Brittney Cullen is Vice President of People at Wealth, the company that is demystifying estate planning with modern tools to create, manage and visualize your estate to ensure your family’s financial future.
Dr. David Crabtree grew up in a small mining and farming community in Virginia. He spent many hours shadowing physicians at his local community hospital and witnessed the impact of drugs on his hometown. Dr. Crabtree received an academic scholarship to attend East Tennessee State University, where he graduated summa cum laude and with University Honors. He went on to attend ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine, a school nationally recognized for rural medicine and primary care training. He also used this time to work in DC on health policy and education issues for U.S. Senator Mark Warner.
After earning his MD with AOA honors, Dr. Crabtree headed west for his residency training at the University of California – San Diego. After completing an internship in UCSD’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Crabtree began training in preventive medicine in UCSD’s Department of Family Medicine & Public Health. After residency, Dr. Crabtree completed fellowship training in addiction medicine at the University of Utah.
Dr. Crabtree is board certified in both preventive medicine and addiction medicine and works full time in addiction medicine. Outside of medicine, Dr. Crabtree spends time with friends and his Shiba Inu dog.
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:
