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.
Ian Boccaccio is a principal and income tax practice leader at Ryan, responsible for leading a global service team of highly skilled professionals coupled with cutting-edge technologies to make substantive impact to corporate profitability. He has over 25 years of extensive experience in serving a range of international tax needs for some of the most complex global companies, focused on optimizing the impact of U.S. tax legislation.
Richard Bernstein, MBA, is a former IRS R&D engineer who counseled IRS engineering managers for over 17 years on how to think about high-risk R&D tax credits dealing with software. Having retired in 2004, he now is helping businesses compile and archive their substantiation in preparation for submitting their Form 6765, business component and Part G data. Reach him at richb201@gmail.com.
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:
