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.
Anneliese Lederer is director of fair lending at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
SaVion Harris joined Intercontinental Wealth Advisors as a financial advisor in the summer of 2021 after graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance. During his time at UTSA, he was a student-athlete as a member of the football team and had dreams of playing in the NFL. He currently helps manage client assets, working to truly understand clients’ situations, goals, and dreams — helping them envision their future and then take the steps to make it a reality. He has attained his Texas Life Insurance license as well as his Series 65 Uniform Investment Adviser Law license.
Maggie Z. Miller and Hannah Nokes are co-founders of Magnify Impact, and co-authors of Magnify Your Impact: Powering Profit with Purpose.
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:
