"The main concern is that the tax payer did not make more than 8k last year as total."

It's not clear how this is a concern. It's just part of the picture. For instance, if this person would like to see that value used for Self-Employment reporting, which means it becomes taxable and also is reported for purposes of Social Security credits, and for Retirement contribution, and any other credit which qualifies (and you never know until you work through the forms if something might be a refundable credit), you won't have any of this happen if it is not reported.