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.
Brian Mistler is a manager at EY's financial services office for blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Thomas Shea is a tax partner and principal at EY.
Alex Dalyac is the co-founder and CEO of Tractable, which develops artificial intelligence for accident and disaster recovery. Working with the largest insurers across the United States, Europe and Asia, Tractable's AI has accelerated accident recovery for hundreds of thousands of households. Prior to Tractable, Alex performed research at Imperial College London, where he led the Computing department’s first industrial application of deep learning. Alex has also been named by Forbes in its Europe 30 Under 30 for Technology and by the FT as one of the UK’s top 100 entrepreneurs.
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:
