The Dane, who has a bye in the first round, then faces the winner of the match between Naomi Osaka and Camila Osorio.
Osaka and Osorio are respectively number 56 and 53 in the world, but 27-year-old Osaka has won four grand slam titles during her career and used to be ranked as No 1 in the world.
In recent years, she has been away from tennis for both mental reasons and pregnancy.
Tauson has faced the former top player just once. It happened earlier this year in the final Auckland, where Osaka won the first set before she was forced to retire with an injury.
If 22nd-seeded Tauson wins her first match, she risks facing ninth-seeded Russian Mirra Andreeva, who less than two weeks ago took alll the honors when they clashed in the final of the WTA 1000 final in Dubai.
Holger Rune is seeded 12 and also has a bye in the first round. He then faces either Corentin Moutet or Jordan Thompson.
Should Rune moves on from here, he is likely to face Ugo Humbert in the third round.
Indian Wells is played on hard court and is one of the major tournaments of the spring. It ranks just below the four grand slam tournaments, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.