Are you sure that it is "this" year - 2019? That would be VERY unusual because the April 15 due date has not even passed for 2019 yet. The IRS rarely looks at 2019 tax returns prior to the due date.
Are you sure that it is NOT last year, 2018 that is being questioned?
And yes, if he claimed the child(ren) as Qualifying Child(ren) then he filed an improper tax return.
If in fact, which I doubt, that this is the 2019 return that is in question then he can expect that the IRS will look at past tax returns for several years to see if they were also improperly filed.
It is possible to claim an unrated child but to do so requires that he lived with the child the entire year,
that he paid more than half the child's total support for the year,
AND the child's parent is not required to file a tax return at all.
That only allows him to clam the $500 "other dependent" credit if those conditions are met.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
