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.
Ritesh Patil is the co-founder of Mobisoft Infotech, a company that helps startups and enterprises in mobile technology. He loves technology, especially mobile technology. He works in a leading mobile app development company with skilled Android and iOS app developers that have developed innovative mobile applications across various fields such as finance, insurance, healthcare, entertainment, productivity, social causes, education and many more. He has earned numerous awards for his work.
Jack Freund is director, cyber risk management, for TIAA, a member of the CRISC Certification Working Group, coauthor of Measuring and Managing Information Risk, a 2016 inductee into the Cybersecurity Canon, a IAPP Fellow of Information Privacy, and ISACA’s 2018 John W. Lainhart IV Common Body of Knowledge Award recipient.
Yair Holtzman, CPA, leads the Research and Development Tax Credits and Incentives Group at Top 100 Firm Anchin Block and Anchin. He also lead’s the firms Chemicals and Energy and Life Sciences Industry Groups.
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:
