First, my son gets a small allowance which is unrelated/unconnected to doing chores. This is for him to practice saving and spending and giving with.
In our home, chores are dealt with as a matter of course. My approach is more or less this: life does not progress happily until your chores are done and opting out is not an option.
I have two main techniques for helping my son get his tasks done:
1. Life cannot progress pleasantly
and 2. Broken record
Life Cannot Progress Pleasantly: This is what happens when my son isn't taking care of things which lead to other things. For example, he is supposed to set the table for dinner each night. If he hasn't set the places, he cannot eat. Pretty simple. If he whines and complains, then I tell him that I'll need him to work on doing this task until he can show me that he can do it without whining and complaining... once that's accomplished, I may give him a different chore for a while.
Life Cannot Progress Pleasantly: Each evening he must be ready for bed by seven; bedtime stories start at 7 and go until 7:20; I stop reading at that point. Before seven, he must have his room picked up ( be able to walk through safely), pajamas on, dirty clothes in the wash, teeth brushed/toilet, and face washed... if he doesn't manage that time well.... oh, my , you might only get 5 minutes of stories or none at all. Natural consequence.
Broken record: left that backpack on the floor again? I will stand by your doorway while you play, tell you once "Kiddo, you need to put your backpack on the hook right now please." Noncompliance? I will stand in your doorway and say "backpack" every five seconds like a total, unavoidable PITA until it's done. I am the queen of this... I can do this for as long as it takes and that backpack will go on the hook because the kid just wants to make it stop. I do this calmly and coolly, will sometimes even grab a magazine to look at so I'm not getting peeved because there have been a handful of times it's taken five minutes before he realized I Wasn't Going Away. Used without any anger and with patience, the Broken Record is a very useful tool. And once they know you are in it for the long haul, the faster they begin to respond.
If your toys become a problem for me, then they go live in the basement for a while. I am not investing effort in keeping Kiddo's toys picked up. He's six, he can figure it out, or they go away for a while. He may even need to come up with his own plan for managing them and present that plan to me before we agree the toys can come back.
I know this is long, but in all of these situations, I have made not doing the chores HIS problem, not mine. Right now, your son has made not doing the chores your problem, not his. My sister has something similar with her boys; her rule is that you cannot progress to a different chore until you have shown her that A. you can do your chore without endless verbal reminders (they have charts) AND B. you have mastered the chore, including no whining or griping. Sorry this was so long, but I hope it gives you a few ideas.
Also, consider a chart or some visual reminders for him to refer to. "Go check your chore chart..." is sometimes preferable to "I told you to...."
FYI: his chores are:
Dress, get ready for school, dirty pjs downstairs
Homework (I consider it a chore, it is for him), Reading aloud, eye exercises (eye therapy-- this all can take a long time)
Setting the table for dinner; helping with dinner prep
Clearing his place at dinner
Help put groceries away (2 x's a week)
Bring recycling items out/help gather up trash cans (1 x a week)
Putting his coat/backpack where they belong; shoes too
Putting his laundry away (2-3 x's a week)
Tidying up the backyard when he's done playing out there
Picking up everything off his floor for vacuuming (big task, usually needs help as this becomes a great time to clean out some things) 3 x's a month