The tax load should be fairly similar. The big difference is that the shareholder can choose when they pay the taxes on the gain that comes from the buyback (because they recognize it when they sell shares).
The tax load is very different because of different tax rates on long term capital gains (tops out at 20%) versus ordinary income (tops out at near 40%).
Yeah, I was going to say that, but we tax dividends at the same rate as capital gains if you hold the stock long enough (for a year). They were going to change that, but according to Schwab they still haven't.
