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.
Cliff Stanford is a partner in Alston & Bird's Financial Services and Products Group and the leader of the firm's bank regulatory team.
Jay Wohlgemuth, M.D., is senior vice president and chief medical officer at Quest Diagnostics. He leads the company’s employee wellness strategy, and oversees its Blueprint for Wellness employer wellness services for other employers.
Andre Shevchuck is managing director of tax at Top 100 Firm BPM, bringing with him more than 15 years of public accounting experience. As co-leader of BPM’s R&D Tax Credit consulting practice, Shevchuck helps his clients to identify, document and defend their R&D tax credit claims.
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:
