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.
Lynn Mucenski Keck, CPA, is a tax partner at The Bonadio Group. She can be reached at lMucenski-Keck@bonadio.com. For more information, visit www.bonadio.com.
Ashok Subramanian is founder and CEO of Centivo, a new type of health plan anchored around leading providers of value-based care.
As Chief Investment Officer of Kestra Investment Management, Kara relies on her extensive investment experience to provide independent financial professionals with the expertise and tools they need to serve their clients. Kara was most recently Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management, where she provided advisors with a broad array of investment advice, tools, and services.
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:
