My younger brother who is 19 got a stimulus check?

It sounds like he filed taxes and earned the Stimulus money.

If your parents did not pay any tax in 2019, then your brother could not be claimed as a dependent of any taxpayer in 2019. He was therefore correct to file as independent.

An adult who has income is legally independent, regardless of who actually pays his expenses.

He's a legal adult who gets paid at a job--pays taxes--and is not a dependent. He qualifies. 

He is independent

He filed/paid taxes

He qualifies  for the stimulus  check

You just sound jealous 

Your brother can be an independent...  Working for your dad doesn't mean he doesn't support himself.  Who he owes or doesn't owe has NOTHING to do with taxes.  Since your parents didn't file for 2018 or 2019 that means he was NOT their dependent & he should receive his refund (if owed) and stimulus.  Your dad not filing when his son works for him is however a problem... for your dad!

He probably did qualify as independent. There are 2 types of dependents in the US tax code: Qualifying child or Qualifying relative.

If he was 19 years old on or before 12/31/2019 and was not a full time student in high school or college during at least 5 months of 2019 then he is too old for your parents to claim him as a "qualifying child" dependent.

If he earned more than $4200 of his own income during 2019 then he earned too much money for your parents to claim him as a "qualifying relative" dependent.

If he's not a qualifying child, and he's not a qualifying relative, then he's not a dependent, therefore he is independent and would qualify for the stimulus.

If he has already filed his 2019 taxes then the IRS will look at his 2019 return. The fact that your parent's haven't filed 2019 is irrelevant.

Working WITH your father doesn't matter. Paying ANYTHING doesn't matter.

Being a legal adult and having an income matters. Based on YOUR statements, YOU are the only one wrong in this scenario.

You obviously don't know the IRS rules for being a dependent or not.  He should cash it.

He can be independent, and if the reasons you gave are the only reasons for him not to be independent, then he is definitely independent.  For him not to be independent, there would have to be some other reason that you didn't mention.

Once a person is no longer under 19 and is making money, they are independent unless they are a full time student, disabled, or making under a certain amount (it's just a few thousand a year).

The accountant was almost certainly right if he was at least 19 and wasn't a full time student.

Contact the account to be sure, but I'm pretty confident that he should cash the check.

"Which he can't be".  Yes, he can be.  They would use his 2019 taxes if he filed them.  If he is 19 before 1/1/2020, not a full time student, and made over $4500 for 2019, he was not a dependent.