What are the pros and cons of a tax credit that creates incentives to pay?

I don't believe that it would be too difficult to design such a credit that would result in a net increase in revenue in the long run. As you know, higher wages would move the supply curve to the left; a tax credit on variable costs would move the supply curve to the right. These could easily offset each other by making the credit equal to the required wage increase. The net result would be higher income for workers, increasing overall consumption demand. In the long run, that should help increase revenue, and help the middle class.

I don't see how such a program can be implemented, though. You would need to have specifics. Different businesses, different industries, even different geographical areas, have different wage scales. Do you freeze the current wages so that you have a base from which to raise the wages? Do you form a government panel that will decide what wages qualify? Do you require that wages make up a certain percentage of costs? Do you include all employees, including senior executives, or do you draw a line somewhere?

Assuming that this would all be voluntary, some businesses would go along, while others would not, or for some reason could not, participate. This would disrupt the labor markets, causing some businesses to have a surplus of workers while others have a shortage.