Turquoise Tanager (Tangara mexicana) and White-bellied Tanager (Tangara brasiliensis) were putatively listed by Stotz et al. (1996) as potentially distinct at the species level, but this treatment is not recognised following SACC (2005) who retain brasiliensis within Turquoise Tanager (Tangara mexicana).
Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Turquoise Tanager (Tangara mexicana).