115QA Taxation on BUY BACK

This discussion clarifies the tax implications under Section 115QA for domestic companies on share buybacks occurring from 5th July onwards. Specifically, it addresses how to determine the 'issue price' when shares were originally issued through an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP). The consensus is that the issue price, for buyback tax purposes, is the Fair Market Value (FMV) of the shares on the date the ESOP was exercised, to the extent it was credited to the company's share capital and share premium accounts.