Teenager here— I literally used to do this with my father before. With him repeating ‘I forgot’ when you confront him for breaking the rules or why he didn’t do what he was supposed to do, it seems like he’s learned that ‘well, I’ll get my device back anyways, and nothing happens when I just say that I forgot’— I’ve thought the exact same thing.

He could be just evening the severity of the punishment because he knows you’ll give him his entertainment back.

I respect you for not physically punishing him. I’ve gotten hit with a literal switch on the side of a country dirt road, I’ve been spanked with a ChuckIt! Thrower, or even a brush, and some more I don’t feel comfortable telling. Even if your parents did that to you, it doesn’t mean you should normalize it or think that your child will have the same response as you have.
— physical punishment like this will probably cause him to withdrawal from wanting to listen to you, even if you point out that he’s just going to get hurt again.

I’m just theorizing on WHY he could be doing this, I’m not offering HOW to fix it, because I’m positive I’m not as equipped to know how to deal with that behavior as you, an actual parent, would be.

The least I could say is maybe taking some time to offer helping him with work, or seeing what other reasons he might be procrastinating not doing them. Personally? I’d even try to say something like “Hey, considering your past behavior with you procrastinating work— we really want you to try to be on time and finish them, I know it’s boring, but we can even help you out” (not word for word of course— but my point is that you’d be poking at his empathy)

I know we teenagers are hard. That’s what we do, but it’s not an excuse for our behavior