Why not just tax buybacks? When a company buys its own stock, it pays a tax on the value of that stock to the government. Sure, this makes stock prices lower.

Why not just tax buybacks? When a company buys its own stock, it pays a tax on the value of that stock to the government. Sure, this makes stock prices lower. But it encourages dividends by comparison, which is probably a good thing, or at least everyone seems to think it is, and then these are taxed as regular income (not usually subject to gains rate).