Nithin Kamath breaks down buyback taxation as Infosys announces ₹18,000 crore record plan

Zerodha co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath took to social media to explain to followers how they could benefit from tech giant Infosys's historic buyback, and how to calculate their gains or taxes based on this.

Notably, bellwether IT stock Infosys is undertaking its ₹18,000 crore share buyback tomorrow, 14 November, offering investors a chance to participate in the mega offer.

In a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter), Kamath explained the taxation and determination of either capital gains or losses.

Nithin Kamath on Infosys' record buyback tomorrow

Notably, with the date set for tomorrow, only those with shares in the company on or before 14 November 2025 will be eligible to participate in the buyback.

Kamath also informed his followers of the same, “Infy (Infosys) is one of the most highly held stocks by investors, and the record date for their massive buyback is November 14th, the biggest buyback ever in India. That is, you can participate in the buyback if you hold the shares in your demat account as of November 14.”

Notably, with the T+1 settlement system in place, investors had till market close today (November 13) to purchase Infosys shares for participation.

Nithin Kamath: Understand how taxation on buybacks works

On taxation, Nithin Kamath sought to explain how participants should view the calculations.

“I think it is essential to understand how you will be taxed on this. If you participate in the buyback at ₹1,800 (current price is ~ ₹1,550), here's the taxation: The money you receive from the buyback is considered income from other sources and is taxed at your applicable slab rate. And, the entire investment value is then considered as a capital loss,” he pointed out.

“One scenario where the buyback becomes attractive is when you have other capital gains that can be offset against these capital losses,” he noted.

On how the capital gains or losses work over differing periods, he said, “By the way, if the investment was done <1 year, then it is a short-term capital loss, and >1 year, it is a long-term capital loss. Otherwise, it is essentially like a dividend.”

The post ended with him suggesting that Zerodha users can access the platform's Tax P&L reports, which have a separate section for buybacks, to understand how their individual calculations would work out.

Infosys' record buyback: 5 things to know

• Infosys’ buyback is being conducted via the tender offer route at ₹1,800 per share.
• This represents over an 18% premium to the last closing price of ₹1,514.60 on the BSE on November 10.
• Infosys will repurchase up to 10 crore equity shares, representing 2.41% of the company’s paid-up equity share capital.
• The buyback offer is open to all shareholders, with 15% reserved for small investors.
• This latest buyback announcement comes after a gap of three years and is the largest in the company’s history.