Given a nonlinear system we determine a relation at an equilibrium between controllability distributions defined for a nonlinear system and a Taylor series approximation of it. The value of such a relation is appreciated if we recall that the solvability conditions as well as the solutions to some control synthesis problems can be stated in terms of geometric concepts like controlled invariant (controllability) distributions. The relation between these distributions at the equilibrium will help us to decide when the solvability conditions of this kind of problems are equivalent for the nonlinear system and its approximation. Some examples illustrate the results.