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.
Joseph Schmidt is a tax director at Ryan with extensive public accounting and corporate experience and an emphasis on multi-jurisdictional taxation and sustainable tax planning.
Michael Thompson is a principal at Ryan, leading a team that specializes in the identification, substantiation and documentation of federal and state research and development tax credits.
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.
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:
