It's interesting people always cite the UK's stamp duty on share transactions as an example for how to stop high frequency trading. The rate is 0.5% when buying and 0% when selling. Market makers (of which high frequency traders are a subset) do not pay this.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/16/section/97
Edited extract:
"Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on an instrument transferring stock of a particular kind on sale to a person or his nominee if— (a)the person is a member of an exchange (b)the person is an intermediary"
"an intermediary is a person who carries on a bona fide business of dealing in stock and does not carry on an excluded business"