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.
David Skeel is the Chairman of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. He is the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the author of several books, including Debt’s Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America.
Howard Blankenship is vice president of sales at Americas for CellPoint Digital.
Sophia Duffy is an associate professor of business planning at The American College of Financial Services, where she teaches estate planning and taxation.
She is also an estate planning attorney with Winter & Duffy Law in Pennsylvania. She has published several papers in academic journals related to robo-advisors, Social Security, financial industry regulations and the impact of technology on the financial services profession.
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:
