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.
Luke Dean is the CFP program director for the personal financial planning degree program at Utah Valley University. It is the largest undergrad financial planning degree program in the U.S. Prior to coming to UVU, Luke started the financial planning degree program at William Paterson University in New Jersey. At UVU, Luke helped the degree program grow almost 300% in student numbers in 5 years and worked with student teams to win national competitions. The program has an over 90% job placement rate.
Phillip Mitchell, CFA, CPA, is president of Kroon & Mitchell, an integrated tax and investment firm in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has written for publications including Grand Rapids Business and Small Business Association of Michigan.
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:
