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.
The real estate industry, struggling with coronavirus-linked limitations, got a boost with its sales business reclassified as an "essential" industry.
It doesn't appear that the slowing local and national economy has had much of an effect on the Missoula, Mont., real estate market yet, which has been a seller's market since the end of the last recession.
Maria Volkova is a reporter at American Banker whose coverage also appears in National Mortgage News. She previously worked at HousingWire where she covered housing agencies, with a focus on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to that, Maria wrote the FHA/VA newsletter at Inside Mortgage Finance. She graduated from the University of Maryland and currently resides in Montgomery County, MD.
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:
