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.
Robert Valenzo, MBA, EA, is a former IRS Revenue Officer, including in the high-priority Abusive Tax Avoidance Transactions program, and a former manager of the IRS South Texas Collection Region. A former U.S. Air Force B-52 navigator, he founded Falcon Tax Resolution Group. He can be reached at robert@falcontaxrelief.com or 1-855-4-IRS-PRO.
Corey Kidd is Principal Solution Architect at Uxopian Software. With more than 10 years of experience in roles across the technology industry, Corey's background in Enterprise Content Management developed at industry giants like Hyland and Perceptive Software, Corey possesses a deep understanding of how enterprise content is processed, found, viewed, and retrieved.
D. Randolph Waesche, CFP, is a fellow at the Family Firm Institute. He is a financial advisor, family-enterprise consultant and business advisor with nearly five decades of experience. He acts as a consultant for Genoa Wealth, a fee-only RIA founded by his daughter, Beatrice Waesche.
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:
