Woman's account frozen after she was mistakenly paid $12million by the IRD

An Auckland woman received the shock of her life after she opened her bank account to find $12 million had been deposited by Inland Revenue. Photo / 123RF

An Auckland woman received the shock of her life after she opened her bank account to find $12 million had been deposited by Inland Revenue.

Savana Taihia suspected something was wrong after a routine visit to ANZ bank turned into a bizarre interrogation about her accounts.

The Auckland woman told Newshub she was asked if she was expecting funds from the IRD.

She revealed she was expecting a tax rebate, a $12,000 windfall.

But her $12,000 joy turned to shock when she misread her bank statement and realised she was paid $12m.

In a statement the IRD confirmed the $12m overpayment was their mistake, and blamed the incident on human error.

The IRD say the money was intended for another customer.

Despite most of the money being paid back, Taihia's account has been frozen after she used $1000 of the $12m to pay her monthly bills, while giving another $1000 to her father to pay for his heart surgery.

Now she can't get to work as she relies on public transport and cannot withdraw money to pay the driver.

"She can't access it. She's not able to get to work 'cause she can't get any funds out," a cousin told Newshub.