Gov. Mike Easley on Tuesday clarified his plan to provide tax savings for the poor, saying it would make relief available for 1.2 million of the lowest-paid taxpayers. But he acknowledged some of those people might not see any savings because they are not now paying taxes.

Easley said the goal -- and the result -- of his plan will be that the bottom third of taxpayers and their families are covered.

Easley's plan, touted in talks and his budget, is to eliminate income taxes altogether for the state's poorest residents and cut income taxes in half for others with slightly more income. To qualify for any relief, taxpayers would need to have earnings of $25,000 or less a year, depending on their filing status.

The actual number of people in the various tax filing categories Easley is targeting is 1.17 million people, he said.

"We know that that's how many people will be affected," Easley said. "Now having said that, there are always going to be some people who file taxes ... and then who, because of [credits and deductions], may not pay taxes anyway."

The Easley administration could not say on Tuesday how many new people stand to see their taxes cut as a result of his plan.

But the governor said that officials with the state Department of Revenue have told him the cost of his plan would be $63 million in lost taxes from the taxpayers affected.

Easley said that more specific information would be considered confidential taxpayer data. Revenue officials could not be reached.

In recent weeks, Easley and his administration have characterized the tax plan more broadly, indicating it would trigger relief for 1.2 million taxpayers.

But the plan was criticized this week by a Raleigh nonprofit, which said Easley could not reach all of those people.

The N.C. Budget & Tax Center said in a report on Monday that less than half of the 1.2 million would actually get new relief.

Easley's senior fiscal adviser, Dan Gerlach, also said many of those in the broad categories the governor is targeting might not now be paying income taxes.

He said it is not possible to say exactly how many people would see a change. But the 1.2 million is "the universe of taxpayers who would be affected," Gerlach said.

The tax center said that if Easley were to try and provide tax relief to the numbers of people he says, it would cost the state $357 million.