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.
Patrick Roach is a senior manager of international tax with MGO who advises both public and private entities in a variety of industries including e-commerce, cloud computing and the digital economy, biotechnology, manufacturing, and entertainment. He is an experienced tax professional with expertise in international direct tax planning, global expansion, policy analysis, risk management and business process improvement.
Sanjay Agarwal is an international and corporate tax partner and the office managing partner of MGO’s Silicon Valley office. He has over a decade of international and corporate tax experience and is an expert in a number of areas, including international and corporate tax consulting, transfer pricing and M&A transaction advisory services. He also serves as overall business advisor to his clients, which primarily consist of emerging and established technology companies and their founders and investors.
Andrew Gargana is the senior federal compliance analyst within Compliance Risk Management for Paychex.
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:
