Mr. Ross may be a member of the 1 percent, but many people who responded and said they paid high tax rates weren’t. Eliana S. Rivero is a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona who told me she gets by on Social Security, a TIAA-CREF pension fund and a small amount of royalty income. She said she paid just over 26 percent of her adjusted gross income in income taxes.

“I reacted the way you did when Romney’s tax status was revealed: I went to my calculator,” Dr. Rivero wrote. “Much to my dismay and, yes, outrage, I pay almost double the tax rate he does. And I promise you, I am very far from the 1 percent crowd!!!

“I worked for 45 years in my chosen profession, helped educate quite a few of the present-generation college faculty, received several teaching and scholarly awards, and yet my government taxes me right and left for the moderate wages I earned but lets the wealthy get away with paying proportionately less than I do. I truly wouldn’t mind it so much if my taxes went to pay for schools and bridges and roads but when they go to wars and loopholes for the mega-rich, I see red!”

A disproportionate number of high-rate taxpayers appear to be self-employed and many are professionals, such as lawyers, doctors, dentists and architects with mostly earned income rather than dividends and capital gains. Some are in the upper 1 percent, but most aren’t. Architects, who as a group may be the most underpaid profession relative to their education, talent and responsibility, seem especially disadvantaged by the current tax code.

Daniel Kelley is an architect who wrote from Philadelphia. “My wife and I have a 20-year-old architecture firm employing 20 to 30 full-time professional people,” Mr. Kelley said. “In 2010, we paid 31.3 percent federal taxes on our adjusted gross income. We paid 37.5 percent federal, state, local taxes on our adjusted gross income. If our practice was in New York, I imagine the latter would approach 45 percent. Instead of tax breaks for people who make a living from their money, perhaps there should be reduced taxes for those of us who have small businesses and employ Americans. I don’t necessarily mind the very rich making money, but if they don’t pay a fair tax, then they are stealing from the rest of us.”

Journalists and authors were also well represented. Jeffrey Bennett, author of “Math for Life” and numerous other books, reported that he paid 26.8 percent of his adjusted gross income in federal taxes, topping my 24 percent rate, but because he lives in Colorado, his total federal and state burden is lower than mine though still far higher than Mr. Romney’s. Ironically, a chapter in Mr. Bennett’s book discusses the “insanity of our current tax policies,” he said. “And despite our high rate, you can mark us down in the category of people who believe our rate should be increased. After all, it’s either us paying it or our children, and it’s not right to pass it on down the line.”

And for those of you who questioned how I could be a business columnist and yet be such a sap, James Cramer, the host of “Mad Money” on CNBC and founder of the financial Web site TheStreet.com, disclosed that he paid a higher rate than I do. He forwarded an e-mail from his accountant estimating that he paid 45 to 50 percent of his adjusted gross income in income taxes in 2010. Mr. Cramer’s taxes are especially high — and complicated — because he lives in New Jersey and works in New York and New Jersey, so he pays income taxes in both high-tax states (and gets a credit on his New Jersey return for his New York taxes). Most of Mr. Cramer’s income is earned, and thus is fully taxed. Although he had capital gains, they were offset by losses. “The best way to have everyone pay their fair share is to tax all income (whether earned or unearned) at the same rates,” his accountant, Jeffrey Rosenthal, said.