You don't need to pay a dividend to return value to a shareholder. You can also tacitly agree to buy back the share later at a higher price. Since this is taxed

You don't need to pay a dividend to return value to a shareholder. You can also tacitly agree to buy back the share later at a higher price. Since this is taxed as LTCG instead of as dividend income, this is incentivized by the tax code.