Ta2O5 films were prepared on BK7 substrates using electron-beam evaporation (EBE) and ion-beam sputtering (IBS), and the films deposited by EBE were also annealed. The optical properties, laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), absorption, scattering and root-mean square (RMS) roughness, microdefect density and impurity content of the prepared films were investigated. The results show that the optical properties of the annealed Ta2O5 films deposited by EBE can be improved near to that by IBS. The LIDT of Ta2O5 films deposited by EBE is lower than that by IBS, which is due to the larger absorption, microdefect density and impurity content and has nothing with the scattering and RMS roughness. The films prepared by EBE after being annealed show lower absorption and microdefect density, and improved LIDT. The LIDT after being annealed is still lower than that by IBS, which can be attributed to that the annealing cannot decrease the impurity content of the films. Therefore, the higher LIDT would be achieved by using high purity starting material and reducing the contaminant in the evaporation course.