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.
Brett Cotler is an associate in the Taxation Group at the law firm Seward & Kissel LLP. He advises investment funds, their managers, high net worth individuals and public and private companies on U.S. federal income tax matters, including partnership, corporate and international tax matters. He advises on business transactions, securities offerings, structured finance, and joint ventures from a tax perspective. He can be followed on LinkedIn and reached at cotler@sewkis.com.
Andrew Bloom is president and chief operating officer of employee benefits firm Corporate Synergies.
Elizabeth Scribner, Ph.D., is a model validation analyst II at Regions Bank and the executive co-director of the Regions Analytics Institute.
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:
