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.
Kyle Schmitt is the managing director of J.D. Power’s Global Insurance Intelligence Group. He leads a team that develops and applies competitive intelligence from a combination of proprietary and multi-source data to help clients uncover opportunities, optimize operational investment initiatives and measure balanced project returns. Prior to joining J.D. Power, he spent more than 10 years advising US and international insurers on growth, market and M&A strategies. He most recently led growth and strategy for Life, Auto and P&C Claims business units at State Farm. Prior to State Farm, he was an Investment Banker based in London advising global life and P&C insurers on M&A and capital optimization. He is based in Chicago.
Thomas D. East, Ph.D. is CEO of the New Mexico Health Information Collaborative.
David Kemmerer is the co-founder of CryptoTrader.Tax, which makes cryptocurrency tax software built for both traders and accountants to automate the reporting process for cryptocurrencies. Thousands of CPAs and consumers use the platform today, and the team recently partnered up with Intuit TurboTax to expand crypto-reporting into the mainstream.
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:
