The Netherlands is intensifying the fight against corporate tax dodgers that are using the country to evade billions of euros in payments to governments around the world. There's no quick fix though, according to a top official.

"It will continue to be a cat-and-mouse game," Dutch deputy finance minister Menno Snel said in an interview at his office in The Hague. "Some companies will find new ways, but I hope there will be fewer than before."

Each year, about 22 billion euros (US$24 billion) in interest and royalties flows through the Netherlands to low-tax jurisdictions. Letterbox companies—which often have little more than a postal address in the country—are normally used to transfer the money. To tackle the problem, the government will in 2021 impose a withholding tax on such payments to a list of tax havens.