Buybacks don't "get around" income tax since buybacks in no way affect taxable income or tax rate at the corporate level. However, buybacks could (hopefully) boost the value of the stock, in which case shareholders pay more in capital gains taxes when the stock is sold, so indirectly, buybacks are sometimes effectively taxed already. I would also note that no other country in the world taxes buybacks.

This whole buyback debate in the last few days is frankly bizarre and just shows how many people are financially illiterate.