Until 1982, stock buybacks were actually illegal, considered a form of market manipulation, as companies could use cash on their balance sheets to support their stock price. Today, buybacks are viewed as a “tax-efficient method of returning value to shareholders”. Stock buybacks are nothing but financial engineering meant to return value to shareholders without causing them to incur a tax liability.
I would support legislation that requires corporation to pay tax on money spent buying back shares at the same rate as if the money been paid to shareholders as qualified dividends.
During previous repatriation tax holidays under Bush and Trump, corporations repatriated billions of dollars which we expected to be reinvested to grow businesses and employ American workers. What ended up happening was that that money was used to buyback company stock and pay dividends in order to benefit shareholders.
https://casten.house.gov/media/in-the-news/theres-a-reason-why-stock-buybacks-used-to-be-illegal
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/17/240.10b-18
https://cwa-union.org/stock-buybacks-hurt-workers
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/31/trumps-tax-repatriation-plan-flopped-the-last-time-it-was-tried.html
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