Does a federal court have jurisdiction to grant declaratory relief?

To the extent that appellant seeks declaratory relief, the district court lacked jurisdiction. The Declaratory Judgment Act provides in relevant part that "[i]n a case of actual controversy within its jurisdiction, except with respect to Federal taxes ..., any court of the United States, upon the filing of an appropriate pleading, may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration." 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2201(a) (1988) (emphasis added). ³ The Act explicitly withholds jurisdiction from actions like the present suit in which the plaintiff seeks a declaration of his right not to pay a contested tax. Hutchinson v. United States, 677 F.2d 1322, 1326-27 (9th Cir.1982).