Укажите пути включения в tasks.json в свойстве args с помощью флага -I.

tasks.json

{
    "tasks": [
        {
            "type": "shell",
            "label": "gcc build active file",
            "command": "/usr/bin/gcc",
            "args": [
                "-g",
                "-Wall",
                "-Werror",
                "-Wextra",
                "-o0",
                "-I${workspaceFolder}/inc",
                "${file}",
                "-o",
                "${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}",
            ],
            "options": {
                "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"
            },
            "group": {
            "kind": "build",
            "isDefault": true
            },
        }
    ],
    "version": "2.0.0"
}

⚠️ Обратите внимание, что c_cpp_properties.json предназначен для конфигурации IntelliSense.

{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Mac",
            "includePath": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/inc",
            ],
            "defines": [],
            "macFrameworkPath": [
                "/System/Library/Frameworks",
                "/Library/Frameworks"
            ],
            "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
            "cStandard": "c11",
            "cppStandard": "c++17",
            "intelliSenseMode": "gcc-x64"
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}