In weak states, delegating tax collection to informal leaders may raise revenue but risks undermining their responsiveness to local preferences. We investigate this tradeoff by exploiting whether city chiefs in D.R. Congo were randomly assigned to collect property taxes. To measure responsiveness, we study chiefs’ distribution of resources in a government cash transfer program. In line with citizens’ preferences, chiefs who collected taxes allocated more program benefits to poorer households. The results help allay concerns about the effects of chief tax collection on local governance and highlight a synergy between the information needed by low-capacity states for taxation and transfers.