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Does the IRS give some help or leniency to first-time taxpayers?
It might not be leniency for first time payers, but they do have programs, some federal some local, that help the poor and elderly complete their tax forms. There are also programs that allow the poor to file electronically for free. For most people the first time they file their taxes they are using the EZ form. Which is rather easy to do, even without the use of either web based or PC based software. The software tools all ask enough questions on the EZ forms to allow the user to know with confidence when their life choices have made it advantageous to use the more complex forms. The web versions of the software allow the taxpayer to start for free, thus reducing their initial investment for the software to zero. Because the first time filer is frequently a teenager the parents are generally responsible for proving that initial guidance.  The biggest risk for a young taxpayer might be that the first year that itemizing deductions might be advantageous. They might never consider it, so they over pay. Or they discover in April that if they had only kept a receipt from a charity six months ago they could deduct the donation, so they are tempted to  claim the donation without proof. Regarding leniency and assistance there is an interesting tax credit. The Earned Income Tax Credit. it gives a Tax credit to the working poor. They alert people that they need to Check Your Eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit They know that significant numbers of taxpayers fail to claim it. EITC can be a boost for workers who earned $50,270 or less in 2012.   Yet the IRS estimates that one out of five eligible taxpayers fails to   claim their EITC each year. The IRS wants everyone who is eligible for   the credit to get the credit that they’ve earned. The rules for getting the credit are simple, all the information needed to claim it is already on the basic tax forms, but you have to know that you need a separate form to get the credit. But instead of making the credit automatic they say: If you use IRS e-file to prepare and file your tax return, the   software will guide you and not let you forget this important step.   E-file does the work and figures your EITC for you! and then :  With IRS Free File, you can claim EITC by using brand name tax   preparation software to prepare and e-file your tax return for free.   It's available exclusively at IRS.gov/freefile. Free help preparing   your return to claim your EITC is also available at one of thousands   of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites around the country. To find   the volunteer site nearest to you, use the VITA locator tool on   IRS.gov. But if you don't use free file you might never know about the form. Apparently it escapes 20% of the people who could claim it.