The day after Thanksgiving is often called the biggest shopping day of the year, and this year South Carolina shoppers will have an added incentive to hit the racks -- no sales tax.

For a barrage of items from cars to clothes, flat-screen TVs and laptops, the South Carolina General Assembly decided to lift the state's 5 percent sales tax on Friday and Saturday for Black Friday, the day that turns many retailers' books from red to a profitable black.

The action is part of legislation to cut property taxes by replacing property-tax revenues earmarked for schools with an increase in the state sales tax, from 5 percent to 6 percent.

"They're doing it because they raised taxes, so they're trying to help the local people," Cross Creek Shopping Center patron Pat Smith said Saturday. "It's good for shoppers, but it won't be good for tax revenue; they (the state) will lose a lot of money."

Shoppers are estimated to save $18 million on purchases on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, said Robert Martin, an economist with the South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors, a group that prepares economic forecasts for the state.

More shoppers might wait until the tax-free weekend to shop or might start their holiday shopping earlier to save 5 percent, especially on items such as big-screen televisions, Martin said.

"I think it's great," said O.C. Welch, owner of O.C. Welch car dealership. "We expect at least triple sales."

Best Buy general manager Rory Whitten said it's a good idea to combine the tax-free weekend with Black Friday.

"This will get more people out, shoppers that might not normally come out," Whitten said.

He said the tax-free weekend also serves to reward shoppers for long lines that might be endured during the hectic retail weekend that will start as early as 5 a.m. Friday at some retail stores such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

While strolling downtown, Beaufort resident Howard Heckrotte said he didn't see much need for this weekend's tax break.

Heckrotte said he understood the need for August's tax-free school shopping holiday aimed at helping parents alleviate the burden of school supply shopping but that the upcoming break was unnecessary.

"It kind of smacks of commercialism, don't you think?" Heckrotte said. "It might serve the merchants, but I don't think retail enterprises should profit from tax structure."

Island Packet staff writer Jim Faber contributed to this report.