I don't start a new folder for each client every year.  I print (pen and ink, neatly in block caps) the client name on a file folder, the first year.  I don't do that very often because I have not taken new clients, with few exceptions, for a decade or more.  That folder stays in the files until the tab gets too dog-eared that I have to start over.  Every three or four years we "weed out" the old returns (keeping pdf copies, and scans of W-2s and 1099's) and send the contents to the shredder.  

About 30 years ago, my clerical help had some extra time so she typed client names on new folders.  (Remember typewriters?)  I still have some of those in the file cabinet.

My office assistant now likes to start new folders with felt-tip pens and in cursive.  I really don't like the way it looks, but I'm not going to say anything.